Digimon Savers: Secrets of the Royal Base
by jazzmeister
Summary: Post Savers-verse. Five years after the events of Savers, a new chosen child has entered the digiworld. New enemies and a new crisis arises. Chapter 16 is here! Spoiler Alert: Digimon X Evolution
1. Welcome to the Digiworld

This is a fanfic I wrote for a contest in a forum. Hope you like it.

Summary: Five years after the events of Digimon Savers, a new chosen child appears. New opponents and a new crisis arise. Join the chosen children in an adventure to save the DigiWorld and the Human World from a dark fate.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the digimon, places and human characters in this fanfic.... Except for OC Main Character.

* * *

It was spring time and the sakura are blossoming beautifully. It wasn't long before summer vacation is over and students will go back to school. Tsubasa was no exception.

Tsubasa Matsumoto is a 9 year old boy living in Midori City of Gunma prefecture. He is currently in his 4th Grade level education. Tsubasa is generally a shy boy; indecisive and easily pressured. This has rooted from the times when he was bullied constantly. Tsubasa had crew-cut black hair. He wore brown cargo shorts, a white shirt with blue sleeves, white and blue sneakers and eyeglasses.

Tsubasa was currently taking a stroll around the park while listening to some random song in his mp3 player. The sakura petals dropped gently around him and the gentle spring breeze would blow through the area every once in a while. The young boy was never the one to talk so he just continued walking silently and enjoy the scenery.

As Tsubasa followed the park trail he came across the city temple gate. When he was directly in front of it, he looked towards the temple and saw something strange, a large creature that looks like a bee and was floating on mid-air. 'Huh? I haven't seen that animal before…' Curiosity getting to him, the boy inched his way towards the entity and the strange animal just stayed still. When Tsubasa passed the gate, the bee-like creature flew towards the back of the temple. "Hey w-wait up!!" The boy shouted. Tsubasa followed it shortly.

The two were running towards the forest behind the shrine and it didn't seem like the bee wasn't stopping anytime soon. Tsubasa stopped to get a breather. 'Man… It's fast…' Tsubasa thought to himself. He looked towards the path he was going and was surprised when the bee was right in front of him staring at his face. Tsubasa moved back reflexively and tripped on a tree root which resulted on landing on his rump.

Tsubasa tried to back away but the bee came closer and closer to him. The boy was about to scram for help when he heard something. "Hi!" a squeaky voice said. Tsubasa tried to look for where it was coming from. "Why are you scared?" The voice said. The boy tried to look again but still couldn't find the source. "I'm in front of you." Tsubasa looked towards the bee in front of him. The bee raised its right claw and waved at him. "Hi there!"

"Y-You talk?" The bee nodded. "W-What are you?" Tsubasa asked.

"He is a digimon." A strange feminine voice said. At the same time, Tsubasa's phone started to vibrate. Tsubasa took out his phone and the screen displayed static. "You have been activated." The feminine voice said and it was evident it was coming from the phone.

"A-Activated? What does that mean?"

"All will be revealed in good time." The phone said. "You and the digimon in front of you are now bonded by your DNA." Tsubasa tried to understand what the phone was trying t say but was still confused. "Please press 7 to enter D.A.T.S."

Tsubasa nervously moves his finger towards the 7 button. He gulped loudly before pressing the said button. The screen then flashed brightly that the boy covered his eyes. When the light disappeared, Tsubasa opened his eyes and saw that he was in a building with computer consoles all around. In one of the screens, the letters, D-A-T-S, appeared.

"You have now chosen to agree with your job as a chosen child." The phone said. Tsubasa looked at his phone and saw it was changing shape. Tsubasa dropped the phone and stared at it as it continued to change. When the transformation was complete, the phone became a rectangular device with a square screen and three long diagonal buttons below the screen. The screen displayed DATS. "You have now chosen to save this world and the DigiWorld." The screen lit up and a thin light beam shot out from it and hit Tsubasa on his chest. Tsubasa could feel his body heating up and just like that the sensation and the beam disappeared. "Good luck, young hero." The feminine voice said.

Suddenly, the boy's hands were fading. Tsubasa looked towards the bee creature and saw that it was fading as well. He also noticed that the same thing was happening to the building he was in. Tsubasa tried to make a break for it to the door but when he was about to touch it, he completely fades and everything went black.

Tsubasa woke up from his frightful experience. He was lying on the ground with the strange device on his chest. The first thing he noticed was he wasn't inside a building anymore but in the woods since he can see the sky and some trees above him.

Suddenly the bee creature appeared and looked straight to Tsubasa's face. "Wakey wakey!!"

Tsubasa screamed right into the bee's face and the "digimon" flew back a little. The boy sat up and looked around. "W-Where am I?"

"You're in the DigiWorld now." The bee digimon said. "The place where I was born."

"The DigiWorld? Wait, you're a Digimon?!" asked Tsubasa in a dumbfounded manner.

The bee digimon nodded. "Yup. Sorry for scaring you like that. I didn't really mean any harm."

Tsubasa stood up, still having the new device in his hand, and looked towards the bee digimon. "It's alright. So I'm guessing I won't be coming home anytime soon?"

The bee digimon shook its head. "I'm afraid not but don't worry I'll be here by your side." The bee digimon waved both of its claws around. "I am your partner digimon, after all."

"So the rumors are true…" Tsubasa hung his head down and was thinking about what just happened. He then shook his head and smiled softly to the digimon in front of him. "I might as well introduce myself." Tsubasa said.

The bee digimon shook his head once more. "No need. I already know everything about you as you know everything about me." The bee stated.

"I do?"

"You might not feel it yet so in the meantime, your digivice will do the introductions."

"My what?"

The bee digimon pointed its claw towards the device in Tsubasa's hand. Tsubasa raised it and the screen glowed brightly. The screen then created a 3D hologram of the bee digimon in front of him and some writing beside it. The boy read it slowly:

Fanbeemon-Rookie Insectoid Digimon-Virus type-Very cheerful and hard working. He lives in a floating hive shaped structure called "The Royal Base." His task is to collect data from plants and flowers to use as building material. Special technique: Gear Stinger.

The hologram and writing disappeared. Tsubasa hid his digivice in his pocket then looked towards the digimon. "So you're Fanbeemon?"

Fanbeemon then flew around and around the boy. "That's me, you're partner digimon!"

"I see… But why choose me?" Tsubasa asked.

Fanbeemon stopped in front of his partner then started thinking with occasional scratching of his head. After a while, the insectoid shrugged. "Well… Actually, we're not really sure how the humans that are partnered with digimons and sent to this world chosen." Fanbeemon said.

"I see…" Tsubasa sighed. Suddenly, something hit him. "Wait, so that means there were other humans that were sent here?"

Fanbeemon nodded. "Sure! There's actually another human in this world." The bee digimon laughed. "His name is Daimon Masaru and his partner Agumon." Fanbeemon pointed to his right. "Their currently staying with the Royal Knights in their base over there."

"Royal Knights?" The chosen child asked.

Fanbeemon blinked then shook his head. "It's kinda hard to explain it all right now." The bee rookie sighed. "We should go somewhere safe first before-"

A loud crash echoed through the forest and with it, was a moderate quaking of the ground. It didn't affect Fanbeemon but it was strong enough to sweep Tsubasa off his feet. "What was that?!" Tsubasa asked as he was being helped up by his partner digimon.

"It looks like they found us…" Fanbeemon whispered.

"Who found us?"

"Well… You see…" Fanbeemon started. Fanbeemon was floating in front of his partner in an offensive pose. "There have been other digimons that have become aggressive and it looks like this place is a territory of one of those digimons."

As moments passed, the sounds were getting louder and the quakes were getting stronger. Both could feel that whatever digimon that was after them was near. They prepared themselves for any attack but nothing came and the sounds and quakes stopped.

"Must have changed its mind…" Tsubasa said sheepishly.

Just then, a shadow went pass the duo. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa looked towards the sky and saw a green dragon with a red horn rushing towards them with its tail. The bee digimon pushed his partner away, just in time when the dragon crashed on the ground. Luckily, both victims were not injured.

"What is that?!" Tsubasa enquired loudly. The digivice in his pocket started to beep. Tsubasa took out his digivice and the screen on it flashed, creating a hologram of the dragon in front of them. There were also some details written beside the hologram.

Coredramon-Champion Dragon digimon-Virus type-A dragon that assimilates with plenty of Green Malachite, a rare gem mined from forest areas thickly wooded with trees over a hundred years old. This type of Coredramon is not good at flying, but the strength of their legs is highly-developed. In its scales, a special scale called Gekirin exists. When touched, Cordramon goes berserk and burns everything in sight with his G Shurunen II.

"Darn… Why a champion?!" Fanbeemon cried out. The little bee flied around Coredramon as it was trying to get its tail out of the ground. Fanbeemon pulled on Tsubasa's sleeve. "Come on! We have to go!" When the boy started running to the direction his partner was trying to drag him to, Fanbeemon faced Coredramon and aimed his stinger at the dragon. "GEAR STINGER!!" Small bolts shot out from his tail and exploded upon contact with the dragon's body. Fanbeemon rushed to join up with his partner.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon ran through the forest. Tsubasa caught sight of a golden floating structure with shapes of honeycombs patterned on the outside. Behind the two, the same green Coredramon was following them. The attack Fanbeemon made was not very strong since the battle was against a rookie and a champion. As Tsubasa ran, he tripped on a rock and fell on the ground. Fanbeemon stopped to try and help his partner but the enemy was too close.

Coredramon opened its mouth and charged its flame. Tsubasa looked horridly at the green flame and prayed for a miracle.

"88 CALL!!" shouted Fanbeemon. He flapped his wings quickly, sending supersonic vibrations and a buzzing sound through the forest. In a blink of an eye, multiple Fanbeemons appeared around the three. The swarm pointed their stingers towards Coredramon menacingly. The Coredramon stopped its charging and looked nervously at the bees. Tsubasa's Fanbeemon buzzed shortly.

"GEAR STINGER!!" All the Fanbeemons, except Tsubasa's, shouted at once and fired bolts from their stingers towards Coredramon. Coredramon tried to defend itself but being shot from every angle all at he same time was too much. The green dragon's body exploded and in its place, a Digitama appeared and landed on the ground. Having defeated their enemy, all of the other Fanbeemons left.

Tsubasa's Fanbeemon approached his partner and tried to help him up. "Tsubasa, are you alright?" The bee digimon asked worriedly. The boy didn't seem to notice his partner digimon. He was still staring out into space as if Coredramon was still there; ready to fire his G Shurunen II. Fanbeemon tried shaking his partner and it worked after a while. When Tsubasa snapped out of his trance, he quickly looked towards his Fanbeemon who was giving him a gentle smile. Tsubasa slowly reached out to his partner digimon and hugged him close to his body. Fanbeemon was taken by surprise by what the boy did until he felt Tsubasa quivering and droplets were landing on him. Fanbeemon looked up and saw that his partner was crying from fear. To comfort the boy, Fanbeemon just tried to give him a hug as best as he can. "Don't worry Tsubasa. Whatever happens, I'll be here to protect you." Fanbeemon said soothingly.

It didn't work immediately but eventually, Tsubasa calmed down, stood up and wiped his tears away. He and Fanbeemon then walked towards the Royal Base. Once they reached the spot under the Royal base, the bottom of the structure broke apart and a large hexagonal plate descended to the duo below. The plate settled on the ground softly. Fanbeemon urged his partner to get on and so Tsubasa did what he was told. Fanbeemon got on it as well before the plate started to rise towards the Royal Base.

* * *

Merry Christmas guys!

Please review! Consider it as a gift to me...


	2. Working for the Royal Base

Once the plate was reunited with the Royal Base, Tsubasa surveyed his surroundings. The whole structure was made out of golden hexagonal plates. There were crystals on the walls that seemed to be glowing. Everywhere he looked, there were Fanbeemons flying about. He looked upwards and saw that the building had about seven floors and a skylight with the same hexagonal pattern. Fanbeemon flied towards a hexagonal passageway in front of them. Tsubasa followed his partner as they walked through the base.

"So how do you like Royal Base so far?" Fanbeemon asked.

"It's really cool! So this is where you live?" Fanbeemon just nodded. "Are the only digimons who live here are Fanbeemons?"

The bee digimon shook his head while laughing lightly. "There are others here. The larval stages of our team are in the nursery while the older one are scattered around the base as guardians. There's also the queen of our hive."

"A queen?" Tsubasa enquired.

"You know, the queen bee of every hive? She doesn't really make an appearance that much though." Fanbeemon answered. While walking, a Fanbeemon approached the two. Tsubasa's partner Fanbeemon came closer to meet his teammate halfway. Both started buzzing at different intervals. After about a minute of buzzing, the other Fanbeemon flied away and Tsubasa's Fanbeemon came closer to his human. "My friend said that a room was set up for you to rest in."

"What about you?" Tsubasa asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

Fanbeemon floated to the boy's shoulder then perched on it. "Of course I'll stay with you. I can't just leave you alone in a strange place." Feeling somewhat better, Tsubasa walked through the corridors with Fanbeemon's directions. "Tomorrow, the queen wants to see you. It seems she wants to talk to you about something but don't worry. They allowed me to go with you."

In one part of the hallway, there was a sealed hexagonal door with two robotic bee-like sentries guarding it. Tsubasa took out his digivice and pointed it to one of the robots. The screen flashed and a new hologram appeared.

Waspmon-Champion Cyborg Digimon-Virus Type-A citizen of the aerial secret base, The Royal Base. He defends his home from any approaching enemy. He drives foes away with lasers, having a high movement performance with the propeller of each part and evades the enemy. It is almost impossible not to be caught by this Digimon because its antenna is highly sensitive. Intruders will almost always be detected by the feelers, keeping them from approaching the base. So that the enemy doesn't find an area where his defenses can't cover, the strong laser guns on his tail can fire in any direction and the shielded shoulders and back pushes the enemy away. His Turbo Stinger attack is hard to avoid even by quick enemies.

Fanbeemon told his partner to stop. Tsubasa stopped while Fanbeemon floated to the door. The door opened automatically. "This is our room, Tsubasa." The two Waspmons bowed to Tsubasa then went back to their guard duty. The boy and bee walked in and saw that the room was nothing special. It had hexagonal plate walls and the ceiling had a crystal that brightens up the room. There were blocks of a yellow substance that was formed to look like furniture. In the far end of the room, there was a gap on the hexagonal plate wall. Inside the gap was a long narrow space with a pillow and a folded blanket on it. Under them was something soft like a mattress. Tsubasa figured it as a makeshift bed. "We better get some rest." Fanbeemon gestured his partner to one of the chairs. Tsubasa went over to the said chair and sat on it. "I'll ask the others for some food."

Fanbeemon opened the door and started buzzing. Moments later, a pair of Fanbeemon came. Fanbeemon buzzed a few times before the pair went away. Tsubasa's partner went inside with the door closing behind him. Fanbeemon landed on Tsubasa's lap, lying on his front so as not to prick the boy with his stinger. "Fanbeemon, are the Waspmons one of the guardians?" Tsubasa asked innocently.

"Yes, they are. Besides them, Cannonbeemon are the other guardians." Fanbeemon explained.

"So the Cannonbeemon is the strongest guardians of the Royal Base?"

Fanbeemon shook his head. "No… There is one more but no one has ever met him before. We only knew him from the legends."

"I see…"

There was a knock on the door. Fanbeemon rose up and stared at the door. The door then opened and in comes a swarm of Fanbeemons with fruits in their claws. There were also those who brought bowls of Digital Honey. The swarm left the food on the table in the room. Once finished serving, the swarm bowed to Tsubasa then went outside. Feeling hunger deep in his stomach, Tsubasa went over to the table and started eating. Fanbeemon laughed at his partner's healthy appetite then joined him in his feast.

After a fairly hearty meal, the tamer suddenly felt sleepy. Having noticed this, Fanbeemon helped the boy to the bed. Tsubasa kicked off his shoes then climbed into the bed. He lay down then looked towards his partner digimon. "You're not going to sleep?" asked the child.

"I'll sleep on one of the chairs."

Tsubasa blinked then slowly reached out to Fanbeemon and pulled him to his bed so that the bee was beside his head. Fanbeemon, after being brought to his partner's bed, looked towards Tsubasa and found him asleep. Fanbeemon just went with things and fell asleep beside his partner.

The next day, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon walked slowly through the halls of the Royal Base. They were supposed to meet with the queen of the base. They were told to head to the court of the queen. Eventually, with Fanbeemon's guidance, they arrived at the court door. The door opened and revealed the inside of the court which was a large room that kind of looked like a roman arena. The pair entered and saw Fanbeemons were sitting on chairs off to the side and Waspmon were guarding the upper levels. Above the room was a large dome with translucent hexagonal plates. The door closed behind and the dome above them glowed.

"Enter, children." A gentle feminine voice said. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa walked further until they were directly under the dome. The floor then started to rise and only stop when they were a few meters away from the dome. "I am the queen of this base. So you must be the chosen child and partner of our Fanbeemon?" The feminine voice said whilst the dome glowed.

"Y-Yes, your Highness." Tsubasa replied.

"Such a courteous boy." The queen laughed.

Tsubasa's Fanbeemon moved forward. "Our queen, why did you summon us?"

"Ah yes. You see there is something we want to ask Tsubasa." The queen said. All eyes in the room were on the boy which gave him a slight chill. "We wanted to know if you would like to work for the Royal Base."

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon flinched at the request. "M-Me? Work here?" asked the boy.

"It is just while you are in this world. In return, we will give you shelter, food, added protection and other of your needs." The queen stated. Everyone was silent in the court. Tsubasa looked nervous as he thought about what to do. "Do you accept?" the queen asked.

Tsubasa was still not sure of what to answer until he felt something on his shoulder. He looked to his side and saw Fanbeemon perched on his shoulder, smiling. The young tamer smiled back then faced the queen. "Okay, I accept." Having heard the answer, all of the occupants, minus the queen, Tsubasa and his partner, cheered loudly.

Unknown to everyone, someone was watching the court. Once this person heard the acceptance of the boy, he smiled menacingly.

Moments later, Tsubasa, his partner, five other Fanbeemons and a couple of Waspmons were on the dock where Tsubasa first came in to the Royal Base. They were given a mission by the queen to retrieve a special item from the coastal area. Tsubasa was a bit excited for his first mission for the Royal Base.

The plate underneath them began to descend. Wind then rushed to the occupants of the plate. Once they were out of the Royal Base, they could see the coast. Beside it was a dense forest. The plate landed on the sands of the beach and so the party split up, leaving Tsubasa and Fanbeemon alone. "So what are we supposed to look for?" Tsubasa asked.

"It's supposed to be a treasure box that is hidden around here." Fanbeemon said.

"Alright, then let's start!" chimed Tsubasa as he started to march across the beach. On the water, a shadow appeared and seems to be observing the newcomers.

Tsubasa and the digimons searched and searched everywhere for the treasure box they needed but after two hours of searching they still couldn't find it. Tsubasa even tried using dousing rods and only found a bottle cap, a can and a metal sphere. They were all about to give up when Tsubasa felt the dousing rods react again. When he looked down, he saw that the sand had a different color than the one he was walking on earlier. He checked out the strange sand and fund out that t had a pattern of a letter X. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon dug down until they saw a wooden arc. They pulled the wooden arc out and realized it was the treasure chest.

The other digimon came to their position and were getting ready to go back home until they heard a loud splash on the water. "Hey what's that?!" Tsubasa asked to nobody in particular as he pointed towards a shadow in the water. The shadow was moving in a straight line and was moving fast. The Fanbeemons, with Tsubasa's, and the Waspmons created a wall to protect the boy from whatever is coming.

The shadow momentarily disappeared then the water exploded revealing a white squid head with black markings on its face. Tsubasa took out his digivice and pointed it to the squid. A hologram appeared and details were shown simultaneously.

Gesomon-Champion Mollusk Digimon-Virus Type-Looks like a squid. Gesomon is amphibious and can swim at great speed underwater. He also can shoot ink, likely as one of his attacks, although the precise effects are unknown. Gesomon is dubbed as the "White Demon of the Sea". He has two large tentacles that he uses to thrash his enemies.

"He must be the guardian of the treasure." One of the Waspmons said.

"You guys should leave this one to us. We'll handle this. "The other Waspmon stated. The other Fanbeemons flied away into the trees but they were observing the battle in case the Waspmons need back-up. Tsubasa and his partner stayed behind the Waspmons. "What are you still doing here? We'll handle this."

"Y-Yeah but…" The boy stuttered.

"Don't worry about us. We're all champion level so this would be an equal battle." The first Waspmon reassured.

Fanbeemon faced Tsubasa. "Whatever you choose, I'll follow."

Tsubasa kept looking back and forth to the two Waspmons and the forest. Seeing as Tsubasa was confused, Gesomon jumped out of the water and spat out ink from its mouth. Waspmon calculated the trajectory of the ink and realized it was heading for the young tamer. Waspmon came between and took the full force of the ink. The black liquid started to eat the armor slowly and Waspmon crashed on the sand. The other Waspmon faced Gesomon while protecting his partner.

The sound of the crash brought out Tsubasa from his thinking and fear inside him shot through the roof. The boy quickly turned around and ran towards the forest. Fanbeemon followed his partner immediately.

Tsubasa kept running, fear and guilt surged through his body. He wanted to help Waspmon in battle to repay the cyborg for protecting him. However, if Fanbeemon were to fight the squid digimon, he would surely lose. After running for a while, the boy stopped and leant on a tree to rest and catches his breath. Fanbeemon arrived shortly.

"Tsubasa, we have to help them." Fanbeemon said.

"B-But after what happened… And if you battle him, you'll…" Tsubasa whispered. His body was shaking, his face was sweating hard and tears were already forming in his eyes.

Fanbeemon stared at the boy then sighed. "We have to go back there. We can't just leave them there especially with one of them hurt." Fanbeemon flied to the front of Tsubasa's face to stare into his eyes. "Please? I want to go there and help our friends but I can't do it without you." The little bee looked into the tamer's eyes. The boy's eyes were of fear while the bee's were pleading.

Tsubasa looked towards the direction where he came from and heard a muffled boom then everything went silent. Tsubasa prayed that Waspmon prevailed but was wronged when, through the leaves of the trees, he saw the two champion cyborgs being lifted up by Gesomon's large tentacles. The two mechanical bees were struggling weakly and were growing weaker by the second.

"Fanbeemon, do you really want to fight, even if we lose?"

"I do… But that is still your choice."

"Then let's do it… For our friends…" Tsubasa ran towards the coastline. Fanbeemon smiled momentarily then went after the boy.

Gesomon dropped the two Waspmons on the sand. The duo was limp and was barely conscious. Gesomon raised both of his largest tentacles and swung them down quickly. Suddenly, something hard hit his face which stopped the tentacles halfway. The hit wasn't strong but it was annoying. The white squid looked for the thing that struck him and found a rock beside him. He was then hit by another rock but this time he saw where it was coming from and swatted the rock away. Gesomon looked in front of him, where the rock came from and saw Tsubasa standing before him.

"Leave them alone!" Tsubasa said half-threateningly. Fanbeemon arrived shortly and took on an offensive stance.

Gesomon growled loudly and raised his tentacles. The water digimon swung his tentacles down one more time but this time, their target is the boy. Fanbeemon targeted his stinger to the left tentacle. "GEAR STINGER!!" shouted the little bee. From his stinger, a light bolt shot out and struck the tentacle, making the appendage pull back. The bee then repeated it on the right tentacle with the same results.

Gesomon pulled back a little but tried to attack once more. Fanbeemon took on Gesomon and tried to get his attention away from the two fallen digimons. Tsubasa snuck over to middle of the two Waspmons. "Hey you guys alright? Can you guys stand up?"

"Sooo… W-weak…" The Waspmon behind the boy said.

"I don't think… We'll be…. Able to go back… P-Please… Leave us…" The other Waspmon groaned.

Tsubasa shook his head furiously. "No way! I won't leave you here! Can't you guys call to the Royal Base for help?" asked Tsubasa.

The two Waspmon metallic antennae started to wiggle a little. "… Forgive us… I don't think our communications link is… Working…"

"Then I guess we'll have to do this by ourselves." Tsubasa moved towards Gesomon. On his way, he saw a broken branch of a tree on the shoreline. It looked like it was carried by the tide from the slight wetness and moss. He picked up and raised it as a club. When he reached Gesomon, he swung the branch as hard as he can only to have it broken apart upon contact.

Gesomon turned to face the boy while Fanbeemon fired his Gear Stinger continuously to get the squid's attention back but to no avail. Tsubasa backed away as Gesomon smiled devilishly towards him. The squid raised its right tentacle and was getting ready to attack when four laser beams fired towards him, flinging him back. Fanbeemon was able to evade Gesomon as he was flying towards the squid.

Gesomon tried to stand up and gets ready to fire another ink shot but then got hit by a barrage of bolts. Gesomon looked from where the shots came from ad saw that the other Fanbeemons and the two Waspmons were attacking. The two Waspmons were still down but they tried their best to fire their Bear Busters.

"You will not lay a tentacle on Master Tsubasa!!" The Waspmons and the Fanbeemons shouted as they continued to fire.

While shooting at Gesomon there didn't seem to be any effect. Being injured, the Waspmons' Bear Busters were weaker than they're supposed to be. It was until a Gear Stinger bolt got passed Gesomon's tentacles, which he used to defend himself, and entered his widely opened mouth. The aquatic digimon shrieked in pain. "That's the weak point!" Tsubasa and his partner Fanbeemon said.

"Waspmons, fire your strongest shot to Gesomon's mouth! Fanbeemons, use you Gear Stingers all at once and target them to his mouth." Ordered Tsubasa as he looked towards each of them. He then faced his partner bee. "Fanbeemon, you fire last."

"Alright!!" All of the insect digimons said. All of the bee digimons followed Tsubasa's request. Waspmon launched their strongest Bear Buster towards Gesomon's mouth. The squid tried to block the shot with his tentacle but it was blown back. The rookie bees fired their Gear Stingers towards the mouth and in defense, Gesomon tried to block it with his other tentacle, receiving the same result. Lastly, Tsubasa's Fanbeemon fired his own Gear stinger towards Gesomon's mouth. Having nothing to shield him, Gesomon was hit directly in his mouth. He lets out a loud screech before disappearing and a digi-egg replaced him.

The victors shouted with joy when they realized what happened. After their celebration, Tsubasa took the chest and tried to open it but didn't seem to budge. The chest was being bound by 6 rings wrapped around it. Each had a different color: yellow, royal blue, green, orange, and black. When they realized they couldn't open the chest, the Royal Base team rested until reinforcements in the form of Waspmons and a giant bee shaped ship. The young tamer felt his digivice vibrate and so Tsubasa took it out. He pointed it to the bee-shaped ship and a hologram appeared above the digivice screen.

Cannonbeemon Carrier mode-Ultimate Cyborg Digimon-Virus Type-This Cannonbeemon is the variation that specializes in speed. Weaponry of this digimon is kept minimal for the boosters and storage compartments. Not many digimons can outrun this form. Special technique: Blade Guardian-unleashes Blade Kuwagamons to attack its enemies.

From Cannonbeemon, six Waspmons appeared and disembarked. Four of those Waspmons helped the two wounded Waspmons on the ground. One was helping the Fanbeemons get inside Cannonbeemon. The last one approached Tsubasa and his partner. "We just received word of what happened. Forgive us for not coming sooner." The new Waspmon said.

"I-It's nothing. We're just glad you came." The boy said.

Waspmon nodded. "Please, board Cannonbeemon. We'll be departing shortly."

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon walked towards Cannonbeemon. Seeing the ship size digimon, Tsubasa was looking at it thoroughly in sheer curiosity and fascination. "So this is Cannonbeemon?"

"Yes, you must be Lord Tsubasa." Cannonbeemon laughed. As he spoke, his eyes would flash. "It's very nice to finally meet you. Please enter and we'll move back to the Royal Base soon."

The tamer and his partner were assisted by a Waspmon to one of Cannonbeemon's pod. The pod wasn't much. It was just a large empty space. The glass panel from where they entered was transparent from the inside but opaque on the outside. The door closed behind them then they could feel the pod was shaking but it wasn't too strong. Cannonbeemon's voice rang inside the pod. "We are now leaving. We will arrive in the Royal Base shortly. For Lord Tsubasa, please enjoy the ride."

Just after Cannonbeemon spoke, the scenery started to pass them quickly. Considering that they were moving in almost jet speed, Tsubasa couldn't feel any turbulence or thinness of air. It was as if he was just on the ground. He wanted to ask Cannonbeemon but thought that talking to the digimon as it was flying wasn't a good idea.

Cannonbeemon approached the Royal Base swiftly but landed on the docking bay in a way that would be the envy of every pilot on Earth. One by one, the passengers disembarked and went on to who knows where. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon went to their room to get some rest. It was decided that the Waspmons will submit a report to the queen, with the help of the Fanbeemons.

As the queen of the Royal Base was reading the report, another person was reading it through her eyes. Seeing the good results of the mission, the mysterious observer laughed loudly. "This is perfect." The mystery person said in his deep voice. "He will never suspect a thing. If this keeps up, the Digiworld will be mine and no one will be able to hinder my plans!"

* * *

Happy New Year guys!

Please R&R!

The next chapter has some OCs... I think. You be the judge. Also, more familiar events and digimon.


	3. Power Boosts and the Olympus Twelve

Yay! Third chapter is up!

OCs are introduced but they might not become OCs in the future. You be the judge.

Sorry if there is something familiar.... Maybe too familiar in this part.

_**Noiha**_: Thanks for the review. Good point. I'll try to show more details about Tsubasa's character in the next chapters.

* * *

The next morning, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were at their room, eating breakfast. The two had a long, relaxing sleep after their hard mission. Tsubasa was happily munching on some of the fruits given to him by the Royal base while Fanbeemon was sucking on something that looked like a straw, which was dipping on water inside a yellow bowl.

There was a knocking sound from the door. The rookie bee digimon floated up and went to the door as Tsubasa kept eating. When Fanbeemon reached the door, it opened to reveal another Fanbeemon with an envelope. The new Fanbeemon gave the letter to Tsubasa's partner then flew away, closing the door behind him.

Fanbeemon looked at the envelope. On the front side was a hexagon with a silhouette of a bee with a crown on its head. He opened the cover, took out the piece of paper inside and started reading it. "It looks like we've been given a new mission." Fanbeemon said.

Tsubasa looked at his digimon with a piece of banana in his mouth. He chewed on it quickly and gulped it down. "Already!?" The boy complained.

The little bee faced his tamer. "Well the area of the m-mission is close to where we had our last mission."

"Where is it this time?" asked Tsubasa as he was about to take a bite out of an apple.

"By an active volcano." Fanbeemon said flatly.

The boy immediately spat out the apple bit he had in his mouth. The apple bit flew to the middle of the room. He then made a dash to his partner and took the paper to read. His face while reading had fear written all over. "A-An active volcano!? Are they crazy!? Besides, you guys are insect types! You guys aren't so good near fire!" screamed Tsubasa while reading the letter over and over again.

Fanbeemon laughed nervously. "W-Well that maybe true but we're tougher than you think." Tsubasa stared at him questioningly. The little bee took that as a sign to continue. "Our exoskeleton is partly made of Digizoid metal which is harder than your diamond and has good fire resistance." As to prove with, Fanbeemon banged his left claw on his body playfully, which made a semi-loud bang sound.

"O-Okay then… L-Let's go!" chimed Tsubasa with an unsteady fist raised up high.

Once again, the duo was standing on the docking bay, accompanied with the same team. Thankfully, the team members recovered quickly. The hexagonal plate they were standing on started its descent to a new island. Tsubasa looked at the land beneath them. The island was full of lush greenery and the beach was beautiful. In the middle of the island was a volcano with thick black smoke coming out of its crater. Inside was a pool of molten lava.

The plate landed softly on the crater of the volcano. The passengers stepped off it and started their search. Tsubasa went towards the inner boundary of the crater to look at the lava pool closely. "You shouldn't come close to the edge, Tsubasa!" scolded Fanbeemon. The boy jumped and because of his sudden movement, the ground he was standing on cracked and detached from the main side of the crater.

Before Tsubasa could get back to the safe side, the earth he was standing on disappeared and he started to fall towards the hot pool beneath. Fanbeemon followed his partner down in hopes to save him but it was proving to be hard since the boy was falling faster. The little bee then thought of a plan. As he was descending, he concentrated his energy on his stinger.

"GEAR STINGER!!!" shouted Fanbeemon. With the energy he stored, a continuous beam shot out from his stinger which made him accelerate. He managed to catch up with his human but he also saw that they were about to hit the lava. Fanbeemon swerved towards the middle of the lava pool then back to Tsubasa. Fanbeemon tackled his Tsubasa to the crater wall where there was a safe land mass. Tsubasa yelped at the two impacts.

The two landed on the ground safely, both groaning from the pain they were feeling. Tsubasa's body was aching from being tackled and hitting the ground. Fanbeemon was hurt from hitting the ground and using his Gear Stinger in such a manner. The two stood up slowly and then scanned the area around them.

They were by the lake of magma, standing on frozen lava and rocks. The fumes of the lava didn't bother both much but the heat was unbearable. The boy was as if he came from a bath with all the sweat. Above them was the crater where the smoke was coming out. "HEY!!" yelled Tsubasa but silence answered. "ANYONE THERE?" Still, nobody responded. "GET US OUT OF HERE!!" Again, nothing.

"Looks like they're too far from the crater to hear." Fanbeemon said as he surveyed the area. As he looked around, the rookie bee found something interesting. "Hey… This earth looks like it's a path." Tsubasa looked at his partner with his head cocked to the side, confused by what Fanbeemon said. "This point is connected to the top and bottom of the crater via the rock path." Fanbeemon explained as he pointed at the path going around and around the inside of the crater, leading towards the bottom and top.

Tsubasa looked to the path that led to the bottom of the volcano. "I wonder where this leads to."

"We're about to find out." Fanbeemon said as he started to move through the path. Tsubasa followed soon after.

As the duo, moved further down the volcano, the temperature was getting higher and higher. Fanbeemon looked at his human as he floated down the path and he noticed that the boy was panting, sweating and walking unsteadily. The little bee thought of a plan to help his partner then it came to him.

As they continued their descent, Fanbeemon was flying ahead of Tsubasa as the latter was walking behind the digimon, the wind from the wings keeping him cool. (If this is even possible…)

Once Tsubasa and Fanbeemon reached the bottom, they saw huge land mass where pillars stood. The pillars were set-up in a row like they were to lead somewhere. And the pillars did lead to somewhere: an altar. The altar was simple. There was a pedestal with a crystal on it. The crystal was in a sphere and the sphere was being constricted by six rings that are similar to the ones on the chest they found. Around the pedestal were 12 humanoid statues. Each statue was looking at the direction of the numbers on a clock. Six of the statues had been partially melted and unrecognizable while six were still in good condition.

The statue at the 2 o'clock position was a man wearing a cape, huge metallic gauntlets and a horned wolf head on top of his head. The body was very muscular.

The statue on 3 o'clock position was a half-man and half-fish. This one had armor that looked like scales were attached to it and a finned helm. There was a long scarf that was coming out on the boundary of the two bodies. The merman statue had an unusual looking staff or spear in his hand.

The statue on the 5 o'clock position was that of a woman. Her armor had a lot of pointed objects sticking out on the back and most of the armor was curved like a crescent moon. She had a weapon that was like a cross between a pick and a swallow blade.

The statue on the 7 o'clock position was a muscular man with animalistic shoulder guards, gauntlets and boots. He held a bone sword in his hand. His headdress was like a lion's head and a long stream of hair was hanging from the back of his head.

The statue on the 8 o'clock position was that of a girl wearing a breast plate and a valkyrie helm. On her hands were a targe and a sword. Her braided hair was hanging from the end of the helmet to her shoulders.

The statue on the 11 o'clock position was a man wearing huge armor and the gloves and boots had claws on them. There was something on his arms that looked like fire. The hair flowing from the back of his head was very long. Above his head was a strange star.

"Who are these guys?" Asked Tsubasa as he walked around looking at the statues.

"They are the Olympus Twelve." Replied Fanbeemon. "Twelve digimons that are like the gods of your realm. They possess strong capabilities." The rookie digimon then flew clockwise, stopping at the whole statues. "This is Lord Marsmon… Lord Neptunmon… Lady Dianamon… Lord Merukimon… Lady Minervamon… and Lord Apollomon." Fanbeemon then came closer to the pedestal but was looking to the statues that were partially melted. "The unrecognizable ones are Lord Jupitermon, Lady Junomon, Lady Ceresmon, Lady Vestamon, Lady Venusmon, and Lord Vulcanmon."

"Why would they make a temple here?"

Fanbeemon shook his head. "I'm not sure but this must have been made by digimons of the past." He then looked towards the crystal. "This crystal must have been their offering to them." Fanbeemon then proceeded to take the crystal.

Once the crystal was out of the pedestal, a rumbling sound came. The duo searched for the source and they found out it was coming from the lava pool ahead. The rumbling became harder until the ground started to shake. From the lava pool, a pillar of fire rose up and the flames almost reached the heavens. Moments later, the pillar disappeared but in its place a humanoid form came. The giant humanoid looked solid but the body was in flames. Suddenly, Tsubasa's digivice started to react. The boy took out his digivice and pointed to the entity in front of them. A hologram appeared from the screen.

Meramon-Champion Flame Digimon-Data Type-Meramon was born from the defense wall "Firewall" for the purpose of protecting the internet from Digimon who enter it illegally. He is rarely violent as the flames that engulf his body, and generally it seems to scorch him. It is very hard to control him and even if you do, you will never know when he might turn against you. Meramon's body is capable of burning anything that touches it. Meramon can survive in lava. His Magma Blast will burn everything that is near him.

"I am Meramon, loyal servant to Lord Apollomon." Meramon introduced in a gruff voice. "What are you doing with that crystal?"

Tsubasa stepped back; the heat from Meramon was the hottest he felt. Fanbeemon moved forward. "Forgive us, Meramon. We require this crystal for the Royal Base. We mean you no harm."

Meramon stared at the duo silently for a while. "I cannot allow that." The duo looked at him questioningly. "That crystal holds great importance for the Olympus Twelve and I can't let it fall into the hands of some digimon." Meramon said as he crossed his arms on his chest.

Tsubasa was shaking in fear and didn't feel so good from the heat but he summoned up his courage and stepped forward. "Please Meramon. The queen really needs this crystal. I'm sure if you want something in return, she'll be able to give what you want." Tsubasa pleaded.

The flame humanoid looked towards the boy and was a bit shocked. "A tamer? Working for the Royal Base?" Meramon fell silent once more, contemplating over the situation. Then Meramon shook his head. "I'm sorry but even if you are a chosen child, I cannot allow this crystal to leave." Tsubasa and Fanbeemon sighed, feeling major disappointment. "However…" Meramon started which made the duo look at him. "If you really want to get this crystal…" The air around the base of the volcano became hotter and Meramon's flame grew stronger. "You will have to defeat me first!" The champion flame digimon went to his battle stance.

The little bee placed the crystal back on the pedestal and went to his fighting stance. "Tsubasa!" Fanbeemon yelled. The human nodded. After getting confirmation, Fanbeemon charged while Tsubasa cheered for him. Fanbeemon pointed his stinger at Meramon. "GEAR STINGER-GATLING VERSION!!" The rookie digimon fired multiple bolts from his stinger towards Meramon.

From all of the shots Fanbeemon fired, a few reached Meramon's body. The ones that hit him didn't do much damage. "Was that the best you can do?" The flame digimon laughed. "ROARING FIRE!!" Meramon raised his arms forward and opened his hands so that the palms were facing Fanbeemon. From the palms of his hands, fire shot out like from a flamethrower. Fanbeemon flied in random directions to evade the fire but as he was flying the fire caught up with him and burned his wing. As Fanbeemon was crashing down, he steered himself so that he would land by the altar. He landed with a soft thud. "Leave this place now and you will be spared of your life." Meramon threatened.

After his partner crashed, Tsubasa helped Fanbeemon up. The insectoid wasn't hurt much but the right wing was burned that he would be unable to fly. "I-I won't leave… Without the crystal…" Fanbeemon said.

Meramon was about to attack once more when a shower of lasers came down on him. "Master Tsubasa! Fanbeemon!" A mechanical voice called. The duo looked up and saw that the Waspmons and Fanbeemons of their team were racing down towards them while shooting at Meramon. Being hit with both rookie and champion attacks was dealing substantial damage on him.

"I won't let you interfere with this bout!" Meramon raised his arms straight up and opened his palms once more. "ROARING FIRE!!" Fire shot out towards the incoming party. Before the flame reached the group, they backed up from it. Meramon moved his flames around to make the insects go away. Before the team knew it, the fire that was being shot at them wasn't being extinguished. Instead, the fire was creating some sort of net between the battle below and the group above. A Fanbeemon tried to go passed the net but was burned immediately and went back up. "That should keep them at bay." Meramon said when he was suddenly hit by a weak laser barrage. The flame human looked down and saw Tsubasa's Fanbeemon firing his Gear Stinger. "Persistent little one, aren't you?"

Fanbeemon didn't let down his attack. He fired continuously towards Meramon until he was out of energy. "It looks like you won't be able to fight anymore." Meramon walked closer to the altar, keeping his eyes at the small insectoid digimon. "Forgive me for what I will do. I cannot betray Lord Apollomon." Once the flame digimon reached the altar, he reached down to the lava pool and gathered some of it in his hand. When he came back up, there was a ball of magma on his hand. "Care to say a few words before I turn you to a digi-egg?"

Fanbeemon cursed under his breath. He was about to submit to his doom when Tsubasa ran up to the pedestal to take the crystal. He then picked up Fanbeemon and raced towards the path they went to. "Insolent little brat!" Meramon growled. "MAGMA BOMB!!" Meramon threw the lava ball towards Tsubasa. Concentrating on running, the boy didn't notice the ball of molten rock heading his way. Fanbeemon noticed and started to struggle against his partner's grasp. Once he broke free, he jumped off so he was between the bomb and Tsubasa. The ball exploded upon contact with the insectoid's body. Tsubasa stared at the explosion point. Fanbeemon appeared from the smoke; the bee was flung into mid-air. The boy caught his partner and saw that he was unconscious. His legs collapsed on themselves and he was just kneeling there staring at Fanbeemon's burnt, unconscious face.

Meramon threw another two bombs to the points beside Tsubasa, destroying the path and leaving the boy and his partner on a ledge. From the quakes Tsubasa felt, he didn't need to know that Meramon was walking towards him. "Foolish boy. Did you really think that I wouldn't be able to catch up with you? You just made the biggest mistake of your life and the price you had to pay was the life of your partner." Meramon scolded.

Tsubasa kept staring at his partner's face as Meramon continues to blabber about what the boy just did. The bee's eyes were shut and his mouth was partially open. His body had scorch marks all over. 'Meramon's right…' Tsubasa thought. 'Because of me… Fanbeemon got hurt… I couldn't help him in battle… I couldn't get him out safely… I've been nothing but trouble to everyone since I got here and what do I do for them in return? Nothing… I just cause them more trouble…'

Tsubasa hugged Fanbeemon close to his body as tears were forming and starting to fall from his eyes. "Fanbeemon, I'm sorry…" The boy whispered, hoping his partner would hear him and wake up.

"Now, face your doom!" Meramon raised his right arm forward and opened his hand so that the palm was directed to the two. Fire starts to accumulate at his hand.

Tsubasa waited for the attack that Meramon was about to use on them. A single drop of tear ran down his face. The tear drop fell from his face to the head of his partner. Once the two made contact, the digivice started to react. "ROARING FLAME!!" Fire shot out of Meramon's hand.

The tamer closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the scorching flames but it didn't come. He opened his eyes to look at the flames and noticed it was not moving. It stopped right in front of his face. The boy backed away a little, with Fanbeemon in his arms, and noticed that time seemed to have stopped. Meramon and his flames weren't moving, the Waspmons and Fanbeemons were frozen still up in the air, and the sound of the lava below was no more. "What's this?"

"It is time…" A feminine voice said. Tsubasa held his partner up with one hand and took out his digivice with the other. The screen was flashing but the image was static. "It is time to reveal your power." The digivice said.

"M-My power?"

"You have shown great care for your partner and your yearning to make amends have bore fruit." The feminine voice said. Tsubasa stared at his digivice, somewhat still confused. "Reveal the power of your bond with your partner. Reveal… Your DNA Charge." The screen turned off once the voice stopped talking but time has not yet resumed.

Tsubasa put his partner down on the ground and stared at him. "Fanbeemon, I'm sorry for what happened but I'm gonna make things right. I promise." He then looked at Meramon. He raised his digivice with his right hand and on the screen appeared the word EVOLUTION. He then put his right arm then and his left hand was clenched to a fist, raised to his mouth level. He blew on it with the breath in his body and his left hand started to glow yellow. "DNA…" Tsubasa stretched both of his arms sidewards. His left arm slowly went up while the right arm slowly went down to his side. The two hands crashed in front of the boy's chest, the glow of his hand was transferred to his digivice. "CHARGE!!!" Tsubasa pointed the screen at Fanbeemon. The screen shone brightly.

Fanbeemon started to glow yellow and was floating on his own. He faced Meramon and opened his eyes. In his eyes was the same glow that was on his body. "Fanbeemon digivolves to…" Fanbeemon's body started to change. The stinger became bigger like a huge, metallic sphere. His claws became like a robot's and his shoulders became more defined with a cannon-like apparatus on them. His torso was thinner but was made of metal. Boosters appeared on his back. His head became more like a real bee but robotic, his mandible was sharper and his antennae were a lot bigger. "Waspmon!" Fanbeemon, in his new form, said.

Waspmon faced his tamer. He noticed that the boy backed away a little. "Tsubasa, do not be afraid. I am still your Fanbeemon. I have just evolved into Waspmon with your DNA charge." Waspmon explained. Tsubasa felt reluctant but something in him said that the digimon in front of him was indeed his partner and to not be afraid. The boy then relaxed. "I must ask you, how did you do that?"

Tsubasa just shrugged. "I don't know… I just heard something in my head explaining how to show my DNA charge and I just did it." The tamer stated. Waspmon just nodded.

Waspmon faced Meramon once more. "Now that I am stronger, let's finish what we started." Tsubasa nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, time started once more and the flame of Meramon blasts through. "It seems that I won…" Meramon said to himself.

"We're not through yet!" Tsubasa's voice rang. Meramon looked up and saw Tsubasa standing in the hands of a Waspmon. They were flying in circles above Meramon.

"So it is true…" Meramon muttered. "Chosen children can give digimons the ability to digivolve… However…" The flame humanoid's body started to burn more intensely. "It will take years before you can beat me! MAGMA BLAST!!" From the lava pool, balls of magma rose up and launched themselves towards the Waspmon.

"Tsubasa, hang on!" Waspmon saw the magma balls hading towards him and evaded them with ease. "Now, it must be our turn!" Waspmon said. The cannons on his shoulder rose up and started to charge. It only took a couple of seconds to complete charging. "BEAR BUSTER!!" Two large energy balls shot out from the shoulder cannons.

The spheres hurdle through the air and hits Meramon. After receiving the attack, Meramon's body had holes on them. "That won't defeat me just yet… MAGMA BLAST!!" Again, lava bombs rose up and flew towards Waspmon and were evaded with ease. In return, another pair of energy orbs was launched to him. "I have had enough of these games!" Meramon growled. The fire on his body then got bigger and bigger. "I haven't used this attack on any other opponent but I'm sure this will be the one that will beat you!" He then jumped up and launched himself through the air. "FIRE BLAST!!" Meramon moved through air as fast as a jet. Waspmon tried to evade but his shoulder cannon got caught and was burned. Meramon stopped in mid-air, above the duo, and stared at Waspmon. "You were lucky but next time, I won't miss."

"If that attack hits us directly, we're done for… We'll have to finish this in one shot…" Waspmon whispered to Tsubasa.

"FIRE BLAST!!!" Meramon shouted as he raced through the air and heads to Waspmon.

Waspmon then pointed his stinger up at Meramon. He aimed the stinger to hit Meramon head on. The cannon then charged up. "TURBO STINGER!!" A large beam shot out from Waspmon's stinger. The beam and Meramon charged at each other and collided in a huge explosion. From the smoke, Meramon fell and crashed near the altar. Waspmon and Tsubasa went down to inspect the fallen digimon.

Meramon tried to stand up but had only the power to sit and stare at the duo in front of him. "I commend you on a job well done." Meramon laughed weakly. "I must stick with my promise. You may keep the crystal." Waspmon and Tsubasa grinned at each other and started to cheer themselves. "However…" Meramon started which made the two stop at their tracks. "I hope you will be able to face the consequences. Whether you know or not know what you are getting yourselves into, I do not know but whatever will come your way, it is now your responsibility." Meramon's body started to glow. "Farewell, young fighters." The flame digimon exploded into data and a digi-egg took his place.

Tsubasa looked towards his partner, his head cocked to the side. In response, Waspmon just shrugged. The two returned to the top of the crater with the crystal in Tsubasa's hand. Having Meramon defeated, the firewall was no more. The team returned to Royal Base on the plate they rode on. On the way, Waspmon returned to Fanbeemon.

Once the party has returned, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon went to their room again. The rest of the team went on their own ways but two Fanbeemons went to report to the queen about the mission.

Inside Tsubasa and Fanbeemon's room, the boy was eating while his partner was sitting next to him, staring. Tsubasa noticed the blank look at Fanbeemon's face and so he snapped his fingers in front of the bee. The sound made Fanbeemon snap out. "Hey you alright?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'm fine." Fanbeemon replied. He then fell silent once more, looking down, before he spoke. "Tsubasa, I think it's time for you to meet the Royal Knights."

At Fanbeemon's statement, Tsubasa nearly choked on an orange he was eating. "M-Meet the Royal Knights?!" The tamer looked at the bee like he grew another head.

Fanbeemon nodded. "We can ask the queen permission to leave the base. I'm sure she'll let us leave in return for our work." Fanbeemon then floated up and moved to Tsubasa's face so that they were seeing eye-to-eye. "I want to ask something about the mission earlier." Tsubasa thought about it and nodded. The duo continued eating and was asleep not long after.

Somewhere in the DigiWorld, a stranger was reading the report of what has happened through the eyes of the queen. The stranger smiled widely and laughed. "Excellent… Just a little more…"

* * *

Wow... Each chapter is longer than the last...

Next chapter: Tsubasa and Fanbeemon go on a little sidequest.


	4. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

This is the fourth chapter! Yay!

In this story, there are a few digimons that will make an appearance. The details of one of them are not really his. I just made it up but the digimon himself is real.

For the identical digimons on the latter part of the chapter, O is older while Y is younger.

Now, let's continue with the story.

* * *

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were going around the Royal Base and heads towards the assembly hall. They both agreed that it is time for them to go see the Royal Knights but for them to go, they needed permission from the hive's queen since they are working for her. While Tsubasa was staying in the Royal Base, he learned that the queen doesn't leave the assembly hall. The huge dome was where she stays in her lifetime.

After a while, the duo was standing in front of the door for the assembly hall. In front of the door were two Waspmons, standing guard. Fanbeemon moved forward and started buzzing at the two champion insectoids. The Waspmon on the right of the door made a short buzz then turned around. He then started buzzing in a whisper volume but would stop every once in a while.

Moments later, the buzzing Waspmon stopped and faced his partner. The other Waspmon looked to his left to stare at his duty buddy, who was buzzing at him. Both Waspmon nodded then opened the door, urging Tsubasa and Fanbeemon to enter.

The boy and his partner digimon entered the assembly hall with the door closing behind them. Everything was the same as their last visit except that there were no more digimons in the stands; only the guards and the dome for the queen. "Come forward, brave tamer." Said the queen, the dome shone bright yellow when she spoke. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon walked towards the center floor panel. Once onboard, the panel rose up until it was near the dome. "What matter did you wish to discuss, young ones?"

The duo looked at each other before the rookie digimon floated forward. "We wish to go on a journey around the DigiWorld, your Highness. We wish to talk to the Royal Knights so we may know if there is a way for Tsubasa to go back to his world." Fanbeemon explained.

Tsubasa was the next one to speak. "Please, your Majesty. If not to go back to the human world, at least, let me talk to Daimon Masaru." The young tamer pleaded with sorrow in his eyes. "I just want to talk to someone from my world."

The queen didn't respond immediately but the dome glowed, telling them that the queen was still there to listen to them. "For your services for the Royal Base…" The queen said after a minute. "I will approve your request. You may go on your journey."

"Thank you, your Highness!" Tsubasa and Fanbeemon chimed. The floor panel then descended to the ground and the duo ran towards the exit of the hall. They quickly made their way to their room to get ready.

Somewhere in the DigiWorld, the mysterious person observing the Royal Base through the queen snorted at his and the queen's approval of the tamers request. "No matter if they are gone. I still have some other agents to do my bidding." The mysterious person muttered to himself.

Back in the Royal Base, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were in the docking bay. They were about to step on the hover panel when someone called their name. "Master Tsubasa! Fanbeemon!" A familiar voice said. Both called looked around to find out where the voice came from. It was a while before they noticed that a certain Cannonbeemon's eyes were flashing. Tsubasa and the small insectoid went towards the giant ship-like digimon. "It's so nice to see you again, Master Tsubasa."

"You're the Cannonbeemon who helped us off the beach a couple of days ago?" Tsubasa asked.

Cannonbeemon's eyes flashed with delight. "Yes, that would be me. The queen has ordered me to help you down to the ground for your journey."

A Waspmon approaches the trio. "Good to see you two again." Said the Waspmon. Tsubasa recognized the voice from one of the Waspmons who came with Cannonbeemon on the beach mission. "I will help you up to Cannonbeemon's cabins." With that being said, Waspmon holds the boy in one arm while the rookie bee in the other. He flied them up to the deck outside the cabins and dropped them off. Waspmon guided Tsubasa and Fanbeemon to the cabin on the end of the deck.

As they were moving to the end of the deck, Tsubasa peeked into one of the middle cabins and saw something moving inside. The tamer looked closely and saw a mechanical being that looked like a floating sword but curved. Suddenly, the digivice was vibrating. Tsubasa took out his digivice and a hologram appeared.

BladeKuwagamon-Champion Machine Digimon-Virus Type-A mecha-insect digimon, his entire body is a dangerous sword-like weapon. It has been ChromeDigizoid-itized. He has the trait reacting without distinguishing between things that move, and when someone is attacked by a swarm of BladeKuwagamon, even if they are a Mega level Digimon, it is told that their whole bodies have been penetrated and they have even died.

"So these are the BladeKuwagamons…" Tsubasa said to himself. He notices that a bunch more appeared and was facing the clear panel from which the boy was peeking into. The sword-like digimon rushed towards the panel and crashed onto it. "What are they doing!?"

"They're just excited." Cannonbeemon mused. "These BladeKuwagamons are very inquisitive. They see you as a new playmate." As if to emphasize, a BladeKuwagamon floated round and round like it was dancing. Seeing how the champion digimons act, the tamer laughed goodheartedly. "These guys act like children sometimes. They are very hyperactive at times. It's a good thing they know you're with me though." Cannonbeemon stated.

"Master Tsubasa, we should get going now!" Waspmon called. With that, the boy walked to the last cabin on the platform and waited for departure.

The side gate for the docking bay opened and Cannonbeemon eased out of it. Tsubasa looked out of the clear panels of the cabin and saw they were above some grass plains with a lake to the side. There were digimons running around everywhere. Cannonbeemon hovered around to look for a space to land on.

Once landed, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa got off with the help of Waspmon. "I hope we'll see again someday." Cannonbeemon said sadly.

"Hey, you say that like we won't be coming back." Tsubasa commented; his eyebrow quirked up.

Waspmon faced the rookie digimon. "Take care of him." Waspmon gestured to the tamer. Fanbeemon just nodded at the reminder. Waspmon boarded Cannonbeemon and not long after, they were already in the air, heading back to the Royal Base. The duo on the ground looks around and spots a town nearby. They then start to walk towards that direction.

As the partners walked through the field, they observed the digimons that were going about around them. Fanbeemon introduced them as the duo studied them. There were Monochromons grazing, Tentomons sucking sap from the trees, Prairiemons digging in the dirt, Yanmamons flying above, and a bunch of Tortomons swimming around in the lake.

Both walked in silence until Fanbeemon spoke. "Hey… Tsubasa? If you don't mind me asking, how did you grow up?" The little bee asked.

Tsubasa looked at him with his head cocking to the side. "I thought you already know everything about me. Why are asking me that?"

"Well, I just want to hear it from you personally. Besides…" Fanbeemon then flew ahead and pointed towards the town. "It's still a long walk from here to town."

The tamer was silent for a while, feeling hesitant but in the end, he accepted the request. "I really don't want to talk about my younger years but I-I guess I can tell you." Tsubasa said as he and his partner digimon continue on their trek. "Let's see… Well I am the second child of three brothers. My older brother is 14 years old while my younger brother is 6 years old. My parents say that they love us equally but I don't think so."

"Why is that?" The rookie bee enquired.

"Well, it takes a while before parents notice the middle child. They give their attention to the eldest since he is the first born and is to be the first of us to go through adulthood. On the other hand, the youngest needs constant help since he is the least capable."

"That IS tough…" Fanbeemon commented.

Tsubasa then shook his head and laughed half-heartedly. "That's not the end of the drama of my life. I didn't really have that much friends. Most kids don't want to be with me because I'm no good at sports and not that smart. I'm nothing to them." The boy's hands clenched into fists. Small tears formed on the corner of his eyes. "Even my brothers think I'm weak." Tsubasa choked. Some of the tears were falling from his eyes before Tsubasa started to rub his fists on his eyes. "Th-That's why… I'm a scaredy-cat and usually shy…"

Fanbeemon went closer to his partner and rubbed the boy's back with one of his claws. "Hey, it's alright. Just don't listen to what others say." The bee soothed. He then flew ahead and faced Tsubasa so they were looking at each other's eyes. Fanbeemon smiled at the boy. "Don't worry I won't judge you. Even if you weren't my partner, I'd still be your friend."

"Thanks…" The tamer muttered, smiling at his partner.

With that, they continued towards the town. It was a long walk but they reached the town by lunch time. The sign on the entrance said that it was Megabyte Town. As the duo walked down the main road, they saw that the town was very old fashioned and simple. The houses were dome shaped with chimneys. Clear tubes were attached the houses to the ground. The duo found themselves in the town's marketplace. Various digimons were trading different materials like fruits, cloth, meat and other things that a one could find in a human market place.

"This might be a good place to get some information." Fanbeemon said.

"Information you say?" An innocent, young voice said. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon turned around and saw a small, purple dragon with gold marks on it. Tsubasa's digivice vibrated. The boy took it out and pointed to the dragon. A hologram appeared.

Monodramon-Rookie Small Dragon Digimon-Vaccine Type-Although he has wings, Monodramon cannot fly. Some call the horn that grows on the tip of his head his greatest weakness, although the truth is unknown.

"You wanted to know about something?" Monodramon asked.

Tsubasa nodded. "Yeah… We wanted to know where the Royal Knights are staying." The tamer said in a volume that only the three could hear.

"The Royal Knights, eh? I have that info but you have to do something for me in return." Monodramon answered.

"Stop! Hold it right there!!" A voice called out. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa looked past Monodramon and saw a huge walking revolver towards them. Fanbeemon whispered that it was a Deputymon. "Stop right there, you thief!!" Monodramon cursed under his breath and ran away. Deputymon stopped and looked at Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. "Are you children alright?"

Both nodded. "Excuse me Deputymon but you said that that Monodramon is a thief?" Fanbeemon asked.

The revolver digimon was the one who nodded this time. "He's very notorious in these parts. Who are you two?"

"I'm Tsubasa and this is Fanbeemon. We were going on a quest to look for some people."

Deputymon nodded once more. "I see… I'm Deputymon. Don't let the name fool you. I'm the sheriff of this here town. Well I could help you if you like. You could come with me to the station." Deputymon suggested. Thinking that it wouldn't be too bad to get some help from the revolver digimon, they followed him to a run-down house. As they followed the sheriff, they noticed that the people around them were cowering.

"This is your office?" Tsubasa asked with disgust in his voice.

At the remark, Deputymon just scratched his head and laughed. "I know it's not that fancy but it's homey." The trio went inside the building. Inside was a desk, a room with bars on the door and windows, a couch, a TV and a vending machine. "Make yourselves at home." Said Deputymon as he went to the Vending Machine.

Fanbeemon and Tsubasa sat down at the couch and studied the room they were in. A minute later, Deputymon walked towards them holding a can of orange juice in each hand. The partnered pair took the cans, opened them and took sips from them. The revolver digimon sat down at his desk. "So, why you young'uns looking for them Royal Knights?" the sheriff enquired.

"We wanted to talk with them about something." Fanbeemon explained. "Do you know where they are?"

Deputymon scratches at the barrel of his mouth-gun. "I'm not really sure… Maybe you should try asking the townspeople."

"Speaking of the townspeople, why do they seem afraid?" Tsubasa asked.

Deputymon visibly flinched at the question but quickly got back his composure. He was wiping the sweat on his face with the red scarf he was wearing. "Th-They're just not used to seeing new people around here. Don't you worry 'bout nuthin'." The sheriff assured. Convinced with that answer, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa finished their juices and went out of the office with a wave towards the sheriff. Once gone, Deputymon turned around on his chair and released a sigh of relief. "Good thing they went away. I might have cracked under the pressure."

In the town's market, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon walked around, asking the different digimons if they had any idea where the Royal Knights' headquarters were. Setting the frightened stares aside, the townspeople didn't know where the Royal Knights' headquarters were. Feeling disappointed, the partnered pair walked back towards Deputymon's office.

To get to the office faster, the duo decided to go through an alley; Tsubasa, however, was reluctant to go through. As they went through the alleyways of Megabyte Town, they heard a hissing sound. Tsubasa looks around to find the source of the sound while Fanbeemon was going to a defensive stance. Tsubasa scans the area and sees a shadow on the end of the alleyway they were in. "There…" The tamer said as he pointed to the direction of the shadow.

"Show yourself!" Fanbeemon ordered.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon heard a soft but somewhat evil cackle. Suddenly, a familiar purple and gold dragon appeared. "You guys still need that information you needed." The dragon enquired with a sly grin on his face.

Fanbeemon moved in front of Tsubasa and glared at the dragon. "Monodramon! Why should we listen to anything a thief would say!?"

Monodramon just snorted. "Is that what that lying sheriff told you?"

Tsubasa quirked an eyebrow up. "Deputymon lied about you?" Tsubasa asked.

Fanbeemon buzzed loudly. "Why would he lie about something like that!? He's a well-respected person!" The little bee defended. "For all we know, you might be the one lying."

"Well-respected, my tail!! That guy is a no-good-!""Monodramon!" A deep, soft voice interrupted. Monodramon, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa looked up and saw someone standing on top of a building. The person was a purple dragon wearing army pants, metal gloves, metal rings on his arms and legs, a white and red crest on his chest and a metallic helmet hiding his face. Suddenly, Tsubasa's digivice vibrated. The tamer took it out and a hologram appeared.

Strikedramon-Champion Dragon Man Digimon-Vaccine Type-Strikedramon is a "Commando Dragon" who aims to be a Virus Buster. His equipment are metal plates that transform him into Commando Mode. He's a light-hearted Digimon, but when he discovers a Virus type he fights until he changes his enemy into dust. One should watch out for his best attack, the Striking Barrage.

"Big Brother? What are you doing here?" Monodramons asked Strikedramon.

"Big brother!?" Tsubasa and Fanbeemon asked in a shocked manner.

Strikedramon jumped off the building he stood, resulting in gasps from the partnered pair. Much to the duo's surprise, the champion dragon landed fluidly on his feet and stood straight next to Monodramon. "You shouldn't be going out like this… It's dangerous."

"I can take care of myself!" The smaller dragon defended with his lower lip out just like a pouting child.

Strikedramon faced Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. Even though his face was hidden by the faceplate he wore, the pair knew the larger dragon was leering at them. "What do you want with my little brother?" Strikedramon asked coolly.

"W-We just wanted to get some information about the Royal Knights and he said that he knows where they are but Fanbeemon thinks he is lying and Deputymon is saying the truth while Monodramon says that he is telling the truth and Deputymon is lying." Tsubasa babbled from fear.

Strikedramon continues to stare at them silently. No one made a move or a sound until moments later when the larger dragon spoke. "My brother is telling you the truth."

"Do you expect us to believe that!?" Fanbeemon growled. "Why should we trust you!? You're the brother of a thief!"

"Haven't you noticed the townspeople around here!?" Strikedramon rebutted.

After the champion dragon spoke, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon thought about the townspeople and remembered how they looked scared when Deputymon or even just the two of them were passing. "So why are they afraid of Deputymon?" The bee digimon asked.

Monodramon was growling under his breath. "Deputymon has the town under a tight leash. He wants everything done as he says and when he doesn't get his way, he terrorizes the people." The little dragon explained.

"But he was nice to us earlier." Said Tsubasa.

Strikedramon just shrugged. "Well, Deputymon was not always like that. He was a kind man until about two months ago."

"How will we know we can trust you guys with this information?" Fanbeemon was still glaring at the two dragons, making sure to keep an eye on them and an antenna out for anymore digimons around.

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the alley. "It looks like this is our chance to prove ourselves." With that, the two dragon digimons turned around and ran away, with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon following, towards the source of the sound.

The three digimon and one human dashed through the alleys until they came to an opening leading to the main streets. They stopped just at the opening and looked around the corner to see Deputymon yelling and firing his pistol at a very scared giant turtle, which Fanbeemon said was a Tortomon.

From the distance between the four eavesdroppers and the revolver digimon, they couldn't hear anything except for Strikedramon, with his sharp hearing, and Fanbeemon, with his sensitive antennae. "I see what you mean." The rookie bee whispered. Tsubasa looked at his partner questioningly. "It seems that Deputymon had asked Tortomon to help bring in some of the tax money collected from the people. Tortomon tripped and the money was scattered on the ground. That's why Deputymon is scolding him."

"The even weirder part is that the town officials haven't even imposed tax regulations." Monodramon stated.

Deputymon was about to use his mouthgun on Tortomon so Strikedramon jumped out of the alley and charged towards Deputymon. As he charged, fire formed around his body. "STRIKE FANG!!!" Strikedramon rams himself on Deputymon, who was flung towards the wall of a house.

"Tsubasa, try to see if you can get any information so we can help Strikedramon." Fanbeemon suggested.

Tsubasa took out his digivice and tried to make the data for Deputymon appear but in the screen was static. "No good…"

Deputymon was firing at Strikedramon but couldn't land an attack because of the champion dragon's speed. Strikedramon, on the other hand, keeps charging, attacking with Strike Claw, then moves away. It was a slow process but he was doing his job. As time passed, Deputymon was getting more agitated. He stopped attacking for a moment and shot at the sky with his mouthgun. The bullet exploded and lit up the town.

Everything in the town went silent until they started to hear an ear-piercing screech. Above the city, a swarm of purple, diamond-shaped digimons with tentacles appeared. Tsubasa's digivice reacted and a hologram appeared.

Kurisarimon-Champion Unidentified Digimon-Unidentified Attribute-Kurisarimon possesses a hard-armored body. The tentacles on its back can destroy another's data. No other data is available.

"Why are those digimons following Deputymon!?" Monodramon cried.

"Fanbeemon…" The tamer said. The only reply he got from the bee was a nod. "DNA CHARGE!!" Tsubasa yelled. Fanbeemon quickly changed to Waspmon.

Waspmon moved out of the alley and looked up to the Kurisarimons. Energy started to gather on his shoulder cannons until it was full. "BEAR BUSTER!!" A strong laser beam shot out of both his left and right shoulder cannons, heading towards the unidentified digimon. Some Kurisarimons were hit and turned to digi-eggs while others evaded the attack. Those that evaded charged towards Waspmon, Tsubasa and Monodramon. "Tsubasa, take care of Monodramon!" Waspmon ordered.

"What!?" Monodramon shrieked.

"Trust us! You won't stand a chance fighting these many champion levels on your rookie form." Tsubasa said as he dragged Monodramon, who was kicking and screaming, towards a stall.

Strikedramon continued his assault on Deputymon and frankly, the revolver digimon was losing badly. The champion dragon tackled Deputymon with another Strike Fang, which knocked Strikedramon's opponent away. The sheriff quickly recovered and glared at the dragon. "You think I'll be beaten by that easily? You're wrong!" hissed Deputymon in a screechy voice. The sudden changed of voice surprised Strikedramon. "Maybe it's time for me to show my real form." Deputymon's body starts to change into a red figure with red wings and a long pointed tail. It was an exact figure of a devil, complete with a trident.

Tsubasa peeked out of the stall he and Monodramon was hiding and saw the new form of Deputymon. His digivice vibrated so the boy took it out. From the screen, a new hologram appeared.

Boogeymon-Champion Wizard Digimon-Virus Type-This digimon lives off the negative emotions of those around him. He usually causes mischief and has little to no regard to anyone but himself. Special Ability: Death Crush.

'So that's why my digivice didn't recognize him… It wasn't his true form…" Tsubasa thought.

Strikedramon growled at the sight of his true enemy. "What have you done with the real Deputymon!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Boogeymon laughed as he charged towards the dragon with his trident. Stikedramon jumps away but his side was scratched with the trident. The dragon clutched his side.

"Darn… It looks like he's gotten faster…" Strikedramon whispered to himself.

"Big Brother!" Cried Monodramon. The older dragon looked towards the stall where Tsubasa and Monodramon were hiding and saw his brother running towards him. "I'll help you brother!" Strikedramon looked at Monodramon with horror. He didn't want him to join because of the rank advantage of Boogeyman. He was more horrified by what the little dragon did next. "MONODRAMON, DIGIVOLVES TO…" Monodramon's body grew to that of a full grown man and he developed characteristics that of his brother's. "STRIKEDRAMON!"

At the sight of the newly evolved digimon, Boogeymon grinned. Strikedramon turned around just in time to see this then turned back to his brother. "STRIKEDRAMON, DON'T!!"

"Kurisarimons, attack!" Boogeymon commanded. A group of the Kurisarimons separated from the battle with Waspmon. Upon the uncovering of Deputymon's real identity, some digimons aided Waspmon. This made the fight more balanced. The separated Kurisarimon group headed straight to the younger Strikedramon.

With the new speed he had, Strikedramon(Y) anticipated the attack and tried to counter. He was defending his zone very well but the number of Kurisarimons was concerning. There were about 10 of them fighting. Everything was going so well that was until one of the Kurisarimons got their tentacle on the dragon. Pain instantly surged from the tentacle contact point. While Strikedramon(Y) couldn't fight, the other nine moved forward and attached their tentacles to his body.

Boogeymon watched with sadistic amusement at how his minions attack Strikedramon(Y). Strikedramon (O) charges to attack the Kurisarimons and was successfully able to remove them from his brother. When all of the unidentified digimons were gone, the older dragon saw his brother back in his rookie form and was on the verge of turning into a digi-egg. The champion dragon picked up Monodramon and held him close while silently crying.

Waspmon and Tsubasa saw what happened to their friend and rage inside them shot through the roof. "Waspmon, finish it off now!" Tsubasa ordered.

"Alright! BEAR BUSTER!!" Waspmon arranged his shoulder cannons so that the beam would disperse into smaller ones and so they did. The beams scatter around but none of the Kurisarimons were hit. They dodged the attack easily.

"You won't defeat them with that tactic! They're too fast!" Boogeymon laughed.

Tsubasa chuckled. "Who said we were trying to destroy them with that attack?"

The devil digimon looked at Tsubasa questioningly then towards his minions. He noticed that they were together in one spot, which is above him. Above the Kurisarimons was Waspmon, charging his Nitro Stinger. "You won't escape this one, Boogeymon! NITRO STINGER!!" A huge laser beam shot out from the wasp's stinger. The beam went through the Kurisarimon's turning them into digi-eggs. Boogeymon was about to run but he was caught by the laser, thus destroying him.

Waspmon returned to his rookie form and joined Tsubasa on the ground. Both walked towards Strikedramon who was still crying over the condition his brother is in. Once the partnered pair reached the two dragons, the digivice beeped. Tsubasa took it out and saw the screen lit up. There were icons flashing on it but it stopped on the icon that looked like a bandage. A ray of light shone from the back of the digivice and bathed Monodramon with the light.

As the light continues to shine, Monodramon starts to groan and moan, making Strikedramon look at the younger dragon. The light from the digivice disappeared and Monodramon looked good as new. "Big brother? What happened?" Monodramon asked softly.

The champion digimon smiled and hugged Monodramon. "We won… Don't worry… Just rest up…" Strikedramon whispered. Monodramon fell asleep immediately. The older dragon looked up at Tsubasa. "Thank you." It was getting late and the four went towards Strikedramon and Monodramon's house which was not far. They slept the night away not long after.

The next day, about 11am, Tsubasa, Fanbeemon, Strikedramon and Monodramon were at the main street of Megabyte Town. The townspeople were all rebuilding the damaged buildings from the battle the night before. "So what will happen to this town?" Tsubasa asked.

"There's nothing to worry about. Some of the people investigated about Deputymon. They found a secret passage to a basement in his office. In the basement was Deputymon, tied up. It seems like Boogeymon wanted to take all the resources of this town for himself and his gang. Deputymon was his target to have more control over the town. Deputymon will be going back to his job after a check-up from the doctor." Monodramon explained.

Fanbeemon nodded. "I see. That's good to hear."

"Well, we're guessing you need to go to the Royal Knights' headquarters now so…" Strikedramon reached into the left knee pocket of his pants and took out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Tsubasa. The boy opened it to see it was a map. "That map has the location of the headquarters. Just follow the trail and you won't get lost." Strikedramon said.

Fanbeemon cocked his head to the side. "How come you guys have a map?"

Strikedramon just scratched the back of his head. "You see, our dad is best friends with one of the Royal Knights."

"That's good enough for me!" Tsubasa chimed. The tamer started to walk backwards, heading towards the exit of the town. "Bye!! I hope we see each other again someday!!" shouted Tsubasa as he waves at the two dragons. Fanbeemon quickly catches up to his partner.

In return, the two dragons waved at the partnered pair. "Thanks again for saving the town!" Strikedramon yelled.

"Promise you'll come back when the repairs are done!" Monodramon shouted. The two dragons stared at the horizon even when Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were out of sight. "Big brother, I'm glad we have some good friends like them."

"Me too. I believe that someday those two will do great things."

* * *

Wow... Long chapter again...

Please read and review!!


	5. Things that go bump

Wow... It's been a long time since I updated any of my stories...

Sorry about that. I've been major busy and I've been cutting back.

I'll try to update as much as I can.

For now, here is the next chapter.

* * *

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon walked through the forests of the DigiWorld. So far, they have followed every direction the map Strikedramon gave them. They have been moving across the DigiWorld for about two days and they have seen numerous wild digimons. They would camp at night and fish or find some fruits for food.

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Tsubasa?" Fanbeemon said worriedly.

Tsubasa inspected the map. "Well, according to this map, yes, we are going the right way."

Fanbeemon quirked up an eyebrow. "Where did you learn how to read a map anyways?"

"Well, we had a treasure hunting game in our class last year and I was the one who held the map." The boy laughed while scratching the back of his head.

Fanbeemon just shrugged and continued on following his partner. It was a good thing that there weren't any perilous areas on their way or anything that might hinder them. The two continued on their way with Tsubasa's directions.

The morning turned to noon and the duo stopped to eat some lunch. The two sat side by side under a tree. The young tamer took out an apple and a yellow cube from his bag. Tsubasa gave Fanbeemon the cube and the insectoid quickly starts munching on the cube.

"Honey from the Royal Base really taste great!" said the bee with his mouth half full. His human just chuckled in reply.

After their lunch, they continued on their way. As they continued, the forest got thicker but still, the rays of the sun was still able to penetrate through the leaves of the trees. The light shone down like diagonal pillars of dark orange. The two decided to eat a snack before setting up camp.

The two continued to eat quietly while a soft breeze was blowing through the trees. At first, it was fine until the wind started to pick up and it howled through the forest. It was lucky for the two travelers that they were sitting on the opposite side of the tree from where the wind was blowing. After the wind died down, there was a soft howl coming from the trees and mist was moving across the field.

"Wow… That was scary…" Fanbeemon breathed.

"Not as scary as this!" Tsubasa cried as he was scanning the mist fearfully, completely forgetting that his digimon was still sitting beside him. The mist grew thicker and thicker by the minute, engulfing everything around them until it was out of sight. Light from above was also being covered off by the fog. "Fanbeemon!"

Feeling his partner's dread, the little bee moved closer to his human so that they were in contact and clipped his pincer on Tsubasa's sleeve. "Hey don't worry, I'm here." Fanbeemon scanned the fog around them. "This fog looks like it's getting denser by the second. It's probably best that we stay here for the night."

"B-But where will we stay?"

Fanbeemon looked around, with the best of his ability, to find any shelter for them. Even with the haze of mist, Fanbeemon spots a big tree with burrow on the bottom. The rookie digimon led his partner towards the burrow. They inspected it and found the burrow to be big enough for them to sit or crawl in and leaves littered the ground. The two sat inside the tree, watching the fog outside as it thickens.

"That's one thick soup…" Fanbeemon commented.

"When do you think will it go away?" Tsubasa asked but only got a shrug for a reply. He sat on his corner with his legs drawn up to his body.

Fanbeemon stared at his partner for a second before moving around the burrow, collecting the leaves into a small pile. Once satisfied, he fired a small bolt from his Gear Stinger to the leaf pile and started a small fire. Seeing the small campfire, Tsubasa inched towards the fire to get warm. Fanbeemon floated to his partner's side and sat down. They stayed silent as the mist moved through the forest. The surroundings became pitch black, signifying that the sun has set and night has come. After a while, Tsubasa fell asleep from stress. The rookie digimon stayed awake for a bit longer then followed the boy but not without putting out the fire first.

Fanbeemon woke up at a sound of something like creaking from outside. He opened his eyes and darkness greeted him. He shifted his vision to night mode and saw everything like one would see with a pair of night vision goggles. The bee looked to his side and saw his partner sleeping soundly. He then looked towards the passageway and saw that the fog has not changed. Fanbeemon gathered some leaves and lit it with his Gear Stinger. He was grateful to the Sovereigns that the light of the fire and sounds of his movements did not wake his friend.

Fanbeemon continued to stare out into the darkness outside until a creaking sound, the same one that roused him, echoed from outside. The insectoid felt curious about the sound and so took a stick, lit up one end and stepped out of the burrow. The fire from the stick he held illuminated the surroundings but only for a small radius because of the fog. Some more creaking sounds came.

'The sound's coming from multiple points.' Fanbeemon thought. 'Whatever digimons are doing this, there are a lot of them.'

The rookie bee dropped the torch he carried and put out the flames. He switched his vision to night mode and scanned his surroundings. The fog wasn't helping but with his robotic optics, he could filter out some of the fog and see through it; though the resulting image was blurry.

'Hey, what's that?' asked Fanbeemon to himself. In the distance, he saw a shadow creeping through the forest grounds. Instinctively, he floated back to the opening of the burrow. 'Now I know that something's out there…'

"Fanbeemon?" a soft voice asked. Fanbeemon looked behind him quickly and was relieved to see Tsubasa awake and still safe. "Where did you go?"

The insectoid made soft shushing noises and Tsubasa took the hint to keep quiet. The two stayed in silence for minute before….

BANG!!

The burrow shook with the sound. Tsubasa shrieked at the sudden chaos and held Fanbeemon tightly. A moment later…

BANG!!! BANG!!!

"Let's go, Tsubasa! Let's get out of here!" Fanbeemon shouted.

With that, the duo hurried out of the burrow. They stopped at mere feet from the tree and they looked behind them to see what their opponent was. They noticed that after they got out of the burrow, the attack on the tree stopped and there was only silence. Tsubasa stayed close to Fanbeemon while the latter scans the area carefully.

Suddenly, something swung hard towards them but Fanbeemon was quick enough to move his partner and himself from the target zone. The little bee looked towards what swung towards then and saw something odd. "A vine!? How could it be that hard and be moving on its own accord!?... Unless…" Fanbeemon said

The vine started to move once more. The duo heard rustling from all around and saw some more vines heading their way except for a small opening in the vine barrage. "Tsubasa! This way!" Fanbeemon pulled the boy towards the opening, dodging the vine attacks along the way.

The two stopped after a while; Tsubasa leaned on a tree, panting, while Fanbeemon scanned the area. "Who could be doing this?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'm not really sure." Fanbeemon replied. "I have an idea of who's doing this. He's pretty much a nice digimon but be ready if I'm mistaken." The rookie digimon moved forward to a small open area. It was a small circle of grass surrounded by trees. Above was the sky; stars sparkling and a pink moon shining down. "Cherrymon! Pardon us for intruding into your territory but please this is the fastest way to our destination!" Fanbeemon yelled.

There was no sound for a reply. Tsubasa took out his digivice to search for any information about this so called 'Cherrymon' but was unable to access it.

"How dare you trespass into MY woodlands!" An old voice echoed through the trees. "For all we know. You might just be here to destroy this forest and strip it of its resources!"

"Please you have to believe us!" Tsubasa rebutted which brought surprise to Fanbeemon. "All we wanted is to go visit someone-OOOF!!" Tsubasa was then interrupted by his partner, tackling him to the ground. The tamer was about to shout at Fanbeemon when he saw a vine wriggling, trying to get its end out of the spot where Tsubasa was previously standing.

The old voice spoke once more but this time, it boomed through the forest. "WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU!?" A bunch of vines shot through the air, heading for the duo.

"Tsubasa, it's time!" Fanbeemon shouted.

"Right!" Tsubasa raised his digivice and initiated the digivolution process. "DNA CHARGE!!"

"Fanbeemon digivolves to… Waspmon!! BEAR BUSTER!!" Immediately after digivolution, Waspmon charged his shoulder cannons and fire at the incoming vines. Upon contact, an explosion occurred, destroying the vines and reducing them to bits of data. "I didn't want to have to fight you like this, Cherrymon. However, since you attempted to end Tsubasa's life, I'll make an exception." Waspmon warned.

An eerie silence swept the forest; no insects, no wind, no vines attacking or moving, nothing. "… The ability to evolve with the help of a human… The chosen ones… F-Forgive me!" The old voice said nervously. After which, the mist started to become thinner, enough for Tsubasa to see his surroundings. In front of the two, a path appeared and a huge cherry tree stood. The cherry tree had two eyes and a mouth, was holding a cane and standing with its roots for feet. "Forgive me for what I have done." The tree said.

Tsubasa's digivice started to vibrate. The tamer looked at its screen where a hologram appeared.

Cherrymon-Ultimate Vegetation Digimon-Virus Type-Cherrymon is a Vegetation Digimon resembling a cherry tree. Cherrymon is also called the "King of the Forests", being that he is one of the oldest Digimon around. Special Attack: Pit Pelter.

"I'm sorry if I attacked you like that. I have an obligation to this forest." Cherrymon explained.

"It's nothing." Tsubasa replied.

The tree digimon turned around to face the path from where he came from. "Well, if it's any consolation, you are welcome to stay in my sanctuary until later today." Cherrymon started to walk away from the duo. Tsubasa and Waspmon looked at each other before following Cherrymon.

* * *

Yeah... I know this is kind of familiar but next chapter, another familiar thing is coming.

From the fronteir side that is...


	6. Digimon History Lesson

Okay, so I didn't manage to put the familiar thing from Digimon Fronteir but there is a clue to what it is somewhere in this chapter.

* * *

Cherrymon crept deeper into the forest with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon sitting on the branches on his head. After a while, the two youngsters could barely keep up due to exhaustion from running and sleep deprivation. Even though the giant tree digimon was big, old and slow, his strides were very big compared to the duo. Around them, the mist was still covering the forest but not as thick from their spot before.

"Are you two comfortable up there? I'm sorry if my branches are too hard." Cherrymon apologized innocently.

Tsubasa shook his head, rustling some of the leaves around him. "It's fine. Thank you for carrying us like this."

Fanbeemon stared out from the parting in the leaves. He was looking down the path where they were going. "Cherrymon, if I may ask, what settlement is in this forest?" The little bee enquired politely. "I've heard of the existence of his domain but I didn't realize there was a sanctuary here."

"That was the idea." Cherrymon laughed. "We didn't want any strangers here because some of the digimons in the settlement are still… unnerved from past events. You do now of the Great Gizumon War, right?"

"Great… Gizumon War?" Tsubasa repeated.

The rookie digimon faced his partner. "The Great Gizumon War was a huge struggle the Digiworld and Human World faced. Fifteen years ago, humans came into the Digiworld in hopes to understand things more about it and its inhabitants. It didn't go so well after the humans got attacked." Fanbeemon explained. "The two digimons, allegedly to be an Ikkakumon and a Lynxmon, attacked out of fear from seeing the humans."

"The two digimons took action in self-defense. One of the human explorers didn't take it that way sadly. This person was Kurata." Cherrymon continued the story. "He simply concluded that we, digimons, are unstable and wild and should be eliminated. They were lucky to get out of the Digiworld together with nothing but a few scratches."

The tamer stayed silent to take in the details until something hit him. "Wait!" Tsubasa blurted out. "How did they get in and out of the Digiworld?"

"Somehow, they were able to create a portal that connects the two worlds. They were also able to create a bomb-like mechanism that opens a gate when it goes off." Fanbeemon stated.

The two digimons fell silent but with Tsubasa thinking the story over, he didn't notice. After a moment, the rookie digimon spoke once more. "Anyways, the humans still used the machine to send digimons who accidentally crossed to your world."

"However…" Cherrymon started grimly. "Kurata came back to the Digiworld, to eradicate everything in it. A lot of digimons lost their lives through the war. The war even escalated to your world. The war finally ended 5 years ago."

"How did the war end?" The boy asked.

"Human tamers and their partner digimons fought with us and defeated, Belphemon, the Great Demon Lord that was under Kurata's control." The large tree replied. "The aftermath was very hard as well."

Fanbeemon faced his partner and continued. "From what I've heard, Kurata had one last trick up his sleeves. He managed to open a portal but with the weakened dimensional wall, the wall collapsed and the two worlds were in the verge of collision."

Cherrymon nodded lightly as to not drop his passengers. "Only the combined power of the Royal Knights and the Tamers ended the crisis." A bright light shone at the three as they reached the end of the trail. "We have arrived at the sanctuary."

In front of the trio, there were trees turned hollow for housing and the treetops were connected by rope bridges, flowers all around, digimons working and playing, going by their everyday lives. It was morning already but they didn't realize it since the tree canopies blocked out the sunlight. In the middle of the open area, there was a huge pedestal. Above them, three winged and limbless dragons, with skulls on their heads, flew above their heads. Cherrymon continued walking and moved towards the pedestal. The huge tree's motion gained the attention of the other digimons; some just nodded at him, some greeted him while some just stared at the two beings on his head.

Once the ultimate digimon reached the pedestal, he reached up to get Tsubasa and Fanbeemon before putting them down on the floor. He then stood up and looked at everyone around him. "Everyone, lend me your ears!" Cherrymon shouted. All of the digimons around and in the trees came closer to the pedestal and looked at their leader.

"We have two visitors in our midst." He then gestured to the duo near his roots. "This is the digimon tamer, Tsubasa, and his partner, Fanbeemon, and they will be staying here for a short while. Please treat them well, is that clear?" He looked at all of the digimons for any objections but only received approval. The huge vegetation digimon nodded in under standing. "Also… Yasyamon! Halsemon!"

From the crowd, a dragon-human hybrid wearing gray torn pants, a white horned mask on his face, red hair sticking out from behind the mask. Wooden shields were on his wrists and he held wooden swords, one on each hand.

A rustling sound from the treetops rang before a red blur shot through the sky. The blur slowed down revealing a flying re quadruped. The creature was somewhat like a bird but has four legs and a metal helm on its head. The mask had a strange looking heart pattern on it.

Tsubasa's digivice vibrated, beeped and glowed. The tamer took it out and pointed it to the dragon-human hybrid. From the screen, an exact holographic replica appeared and details were shown.

--Yasyamon-Armor Demon Man Digimon-Vaccine Type-Yasyamon is the Armor Digivolved form of Veemon through the Digi-Egg of Sincerity. He is a kendo-master. He remains calm in times of crisis and has a kinder side that will protect those weaker than himself. Yasyamon possesses substantial psychic powers and exhibits strength comparable to that of an angry god. With his Puppet Master ability, he can take control of his opponents.—

The tamer then pointed his digivice to the other new digimon and a new set of hologram and details were shown.

--Halsemon-Armor Beast Digimon-Data Type-Halsemon is the Armor Digivolved form of Hawkmon through the Digi-Egg of Love. Halsemon can fly with grace and precision. He can also paralyze his opponents with a shot of his Red Sun attack.—

Yasyamon stepped up unto the pedestal while Halsemon landed softly beside him. "What may we do for you, Sir Cherrymon?" Yasyamon asked in a low hushed tone.

"Yasyamon, Halsemon, I want you two to serve as guides for our guests. Unless, you two are busy…"

Immediately, the two digimons bowed. "We are not busy at all. We will assist them with the most of our abilities." Halsemon stated in an archaic accent.

Once more, Cherrymon nodded. "I'm sure you will." The old digimon said in a fatherly tone. "Now, go forth. I hope to see you all later."

"Yes sir!" The two armor digimons responded before standing up and looked towards the newcomers. "Please follow me." Yasyamon spoke and walked on ahead towards the tree houses. The partners looked at each other then followed the humanoid. Behind them, Halsemon follows them.

Right before they reached the trees, Tsubasa stopped and sat down on the ground; his right arm was rubbing his right leg and his left hand was rubbing his eyes. Fanbeemon quickly went to his side and sat on his partner's lap.

Halsemon looked at the two questioningly before going ahead and talk to Yasyamon. Shortly after, the armor digivolved pair approached the tamer. "What's the matter?" the demon man digimon asked worriedly.

The boy hiccupped then sniffed. "M-My legs…" Tsubasa continues his actions without sparing the digimons in front of him a glance.

The armor digimons still looked confused. "We haven't slept that much and we haven't eaten anything since last night." Fanbeemon puts his left nipper unto the boy's left leg and started to rub it. "We've been running since dawn from Cherrymon's attacks. It was a misunderstanding but still, it really drained us." The little bee explained.

Yasyamon and Halsemon looked at each other then the former tipped his head towards the two on the ground then stared at the duo. The latter nodded at the gesture and turned around. He then lay down on his front and looked at the duo. "If you want, you can ride on my back." Tsubasa looked at the red digimon, then to the humanoid digimon, sadly. "Don't worry. It's no trouble at all." It took a while but Tsubasa hesitantly got on Halsemon's back with Fanbeemon sitting in front of him. They party resumed their trek towards the busier districts.

As they walked through the tree houses, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon took everything as interesting and with enthusiasm. A Kumamon, a Dorumon and a Tapirmon went past them, playing tag. A store was there and it was run by a Rockmon. Above them, swinging through the tree tops, a Gorillamon and an Apemon went by.

"Wow! There's so many digimons around!" Tsubasa commented loudly which earned the attention of some digimons. At the stares of those around him, the boy quickly ducked with his cheeks showing a glint of red.

"Mmhmm… And all of them look happy and worry-free." Fanbeemon spoke to no one in particular.

From beneath them, a chuckle was heard. The duo looked down and saw that the armor beast digimon was laughing softly. "We're glad you like this place." Halsemon said before nodding to a ShimaUnimon who greeted him. "We really try our best to keep everything problem free; the people around here don't need any additional concerns right now."

"Why? Is there something wrong?" The rookie digimon enquired innocently.

The two leading digimons didn't answer immediately. "We're still reconstructing after the war. A lot was damaged during Kurata's assault and from the supposed collision of our worlds." Yasyamon explained.

"Also…" Halsemon started. "There are still some of the digimons who haven't gotten over the near loss of their family and friends. Some who fought or just got injured in the war are still traumatized by the experience."

Tsubasa stayed silent as he tried to understand what the armor digimons said, just like what he did with Cherrymon. It was a bit before he realized something strange. "Ummm… Near loss? But I thought…"

"We'll explain it later." Yasyamon stated. He then turned to look at the sanctuary guests. Even with the mask on his face, the boy and rookie knew that the larger digimon was giving them a gentle smile. "Right now, we should get you some food." Only a squeal of delight coming from Tsubasa and Fanbeemon was received for response. The armor digimons laughed then went to the best place they thought for food.

* * *

Next chapter: Appearances of some uncommon digimons and the familiar thing from Digimon Fronteir.

Please read and review!


	7. Having Fun

Chapter Seven is up! I added a place from Digimon Fronteir but added a few stuff.

Enjoy!

Please read and review!

* * *

Tsubasa, Fanbeemon, Halsemon and Yasyamon arrived at a tree building with wooden tables and chairs outside. Above the doorway, there was a sign with pictures of various foods and some odd symbols. There were some digimons eating on some of the tables. The party chose a vacant table, though Halsemon settled on sitting on his hind legs since the chairs can't support him. The armor digimons sat across the young ones. Copies of the menu were sitting on the table. From the tree building, three digimons appeared. They approached the new customers; the three had huge smiles. "Welcome to the Network Bistro!!" The trio said simultaneously.

"Howdy partners! My name is Flarerizamon!" The first digimon, a large flaming dragon said in a western accent. Its head, protected by a metallic mask, lowered a small bow.

The second digimon, a blackish humanoid digimon, with ice sticking out of its shoulders, stepped up and waved at the quartet. The digimon kept its mouth open and had an icicle in its hand. "I am Hyougamon. I am thrilled to meet you." The ogre digimon spoke with a Russian accent.

Lastly, a digimon that looked like a walking dead tree stump bowed at them. The tree bark had holes on its body where the eyes and mouth can be seen. "I am known as Woodmon. It's a pleasure to meet you." His accent was that of Britain.

"We are the head cooks of this restaurant." Hyougamon stated. He then turned to the Yasyamon and Halsemon. "Ah, Yasyamon, Halsemon, good to see our usual customers."

Halsemon chuckled. "Nice to see you guys too. These are the sanctuary guests the Cherrymon spoke of." The beast digimon pointed his head towards the duo in front of them. "Could you get us some grub? We're paying for them so don't worry."

"The usual for the two of us." said Yasyamon as he gestured to his larger friend. Halsemon just nodded when Woodmon, the one who was writing down the orders, looked for confirmation.

Flarerizamon looked at the two across their regulars. The rookie looked calm but the human was looking nervous under the gaze of the dragon. "What about you, young'uns? What can we do you fer?" The flaming dragon asked cheerfully.

Fanbeemon looked at his partner and saw that the boy was staring at the menu. The bee digimon took a copy of the menu and read it. 'No wonder Tsubasa hasn't ordered yet.' Fanbeemon thought. 'The menu is in DigiAlphabet.' He then looked up at Yasyamon. "What are your usuals?"

Woodmon answered for the armor humanoid. "That would be DigiMeat Buns."

"Alright, we'll take that." Fanbeemon answered, knowing that Tsubasa finds it acceptable as well.

"Be ready in a few." The stump digimon announced before the trio marched into the bistro.

Tsubasa then sat straight and silently thanked his partner for ordering for him. He looked towards the bistro and saw the three head chefs preparing their meal. "It's a good thing that they can work together even if one of them is supposed to be scared of the other." The tamer commented.

"Well, to tell you the truth, those three had a very rocky start of business." Yasyamon said as he leaned back on his chair with his arms crossed behind his head. "Each one of them was so scared of each other that they tried working without getting five feet near each other. It annoyed a lot of customers."

Halsemon rested his head on the table. "In the end though, they got to know each other better and now they are very successful. It's their differences that make their cooking very good."

Minutes passed, the quartet sat on their seats in silence until the head chefs emerged from the bistro and brought them their food. Four plates, each with five steaming white buns, were placed in front of the quartet. Along with the buns were 3 cups of tea and one bowl, for Halsemon, with the same beverage. "Thank you for waiting! We hope you enjoy your meal!" The chefs said in unison. Flarerizamon and Woodmon went ahead to the bistro while Hyougamon stayed in his position. "If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate on telling us." The ice ogre bowed then followed his companions inside.

The four ate silently. Halsemon ate by lowering his head unto the plate while Yasyamon ate without taking off his mask. Apparently, a crack appears across his mask when he eats and the mask opens up making showing his mouth. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa looked at their plates, took one bun each and took a bite. "It's delicious!!" The two suddenly screamed, shocking the other customers.

"We told you those three are the best." The armor digimons chuckled.

The rest of the meal was spent silent. The four easily emptied their plates and their cups and bowl. They clapped their hands, claws and nippers together and said a quick thank you. Yasyamon paid for the meal and so the quartet resumed their tour; only this time, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa were walking.

"So what do you guys want to see first?" Halsemon asked.

The questioned duo stopped first to think while the armor digimons waited for their response. Tsubasa was the one who thought of something first. "Hey why don't we start with what you guys do?" the boy responded enthusiastically.

Yasyamon and Halsemon looked at each other. "What we do for a living?" Yasyamon said. They then turned to the younger ones. "Oh you don't want to see that…"

Fanbeemon shook his head. "Actually, we do. We won't judge you in anyway for it."

The armor duo fell silent before they both nodded. "Very well then." Yasyamon sighed. They then turned to a path that led to another part of the woods. "Follow us." Yasyamon and Halsemon followed the path with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon in tow.

The quartet continued to follow the path which took them to the back of the forest. The tree buildings had a lot of shops mostly about small trinkets and general merchandise.

At the end of the path, they were led to an open area with a giant tree building in the center. Everywhere, small digimons were moving around playing. To the right of the tree, there was a huge pond; small shadows moved across the water. There were also some bigger digimons that seemed to be helping out some of the small ones or keeping them in order. "Here we are. This is the Digimon Daycare, where we work. This is the place where the digimons, most of them anyway, are born."

A small, orange, ball-shaped digimon with a horn stopped as it was chasing some other infant digimon. The frozen infant looked like a dog's head with a horn. The digimon, who Fanbeemon said was Tsunomon, smiled widely and the shouted, "YASYAMON AND HALSEMON ARE BACK!!!" With that, some of the baby digimons stopped what they're doing and moved quickly to the quartet. The bigger digimons looked towards the four and smiled tenderly at them.

Yasyamon and Halsemon were very happy to see the welcoming group while Fanbeemon and Tsubasa were almost deaf from the voices of the young group. After returning the greetings, the quartet moved towards the center of the field where the big and small digimons were converging with the big ones in front, looking at the small ones, who in turn, were right back at them.

Once they reached the center, the quartet looked at the young audience, who settled down immediately. "Hey guys! I guess you're going to meet our town's guests early. I hope you get to like them even if their stay is short." Yasyamon said out loud for everyone to hear. Halsemon gestured the partners to come closer. "These are Tsubasa, the digimon tamer, and his partner Fanbeemon."

"Hi Tsubasa! Hi Fanbeemon!" The children greeted joyously. The boy waved shyly at them while the rookie digimon waved energetically.

"Alright, you can talk and play with them later." A digimon that looked like a horse with gold armor and angelic wings said. "Right now, it is time for snacks." Upon hearing the word 'snacks', the children rushed inside the building and quickly got their snacks. The bigger digimons stayed behind and looked at the settlement guests. "So these are the newcomers." The horse digimon stated.

"You are all… Armor digimons…" Fanbeemon spoke.

Yasyamon nodded. "Yes, we are the caretakers for this daycare." He then looked at his comrades. "Let me introduce our friends:

Flamedramon," A bipedal, horned dragon digimon, with armor that had flame designs, saluted at them.

"Raidramon," A quadruped dragon with black armor nodded its head.

A digimon who had a fish tail for feet and wore blue and gray armor moved forward and waved at the duo. "Depthmon,"

"Sagittarimon," A black centaur digimon with a bow and black and red armor smiled at them.

A blue dinosaur with Indian accessories roared. "Allomon,"

"Digmon," The sound of drills whirring came from a gold beetle with drills on its body.

"Submarimon," The submarine shaped digimon whirred its tail propeller.

"Pegasusmon," The golden horse stomped its front right hoof on the ground.

The flaming feline digimon roared. "Lynxmon,"

The swan digimon bowed at the duo. "Swanmon,"

"Nefertimon," The sphinx shape digimon flapped its wings.

"And lastly, Shadramon." The butterfly digimon jumped, hovered for a bit then came down.

"There is one more but…" Halsemon sighed. "He wanted to explore the DigiWorld on his own."

Tsubasa nodded then looked at the fourteen digimons in front of him inquisitively. "If you guys are Armor Digimons then why aren't Allomon and Lynxmon wearing armor?" The boy asked innocently.

The fourteen armor digimons and Fanbeemon laughed good-naturedly at the boy before they settled down and Allomon answered in a gruff voice. "We are not called Armor Digimons necessarily because we were armor. We are called Armor Digimons because of our way of digivolution." The digimons helped the boy understand the way armor digivolution.

"Wow… There must be a lot of those digi-eggs." Tsubasa commented.

Swanmon shook her head. "There is only one digi-egg of each name." The swan digimon explained in a motherly voice.

"The digi-eggs are kept in secret altars around the DigiWorld and certain digimons would have to visit them for Armor Evolutions." Sagittarimon spoke in a teenage male voice. Tsubasa just nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, a stampede of baby digimons came out of the tree building and rushed towards the older digimons and the tamer. The voices of the children were deafening to the tamer and his partner. "Hey who are those guys?" a digimon that looked like a floating hairball with purple antennae-like protrusions asked. Fanbeemon said it was a Yuramon.

Shadramon laughed and spoke with a screechy voice. "They are friends. You can go play with them if it is okay with them." The last part was said with the butterfly digimon looking at Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. It went unnoticed, however, when some In-Training digimons were already tugging the two towards the play area for a game of tag.

A couple of hours were spent running around, hiding for hide and seek, laughing, tickling and so much more. The children digimons, the tamer pair and the armor digimons were lying on the ground still laughing from their game. Raidramon then stood up and smiled at the sight of their happy charges. "Alright, you children must be exhausted. Besides," he then looked up and saw the sky was a sea of colors of red and orange with sparkling stars. "It's getting late. You guys should rest." A chorus of 'Yes!' came before the children jumped up and bounced their way to their home, talking to each other about their fun experience. All of them were covered in dirt and sweat.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon stood up and patted themselves clean and looked at the other digimons, who were already up and held smiles in their faces.

"Thank you. We haven't seen the children that happy." Nefertimon told the pair with an invisible smile. "You should visit again soon."

The human scratched the back of his head sheepishly and nodded. "We'll try to but we just want to get to the Royal Knights' Headquarters."

Flamedramon tilted his head towards the side and looked at the pair curiously. "Why do you want to go there?"

"And must you go immediately?" Digmon asked with a low whirr of his nose drill.

"Well, not really." Fanbeemon answered. "It's just that…" He then looked towards his partner sadly and saw the boy staring at his feet. "Tsubasa is a bit homesick and I suggested that he talk to Masaru."

The armor digimons looked at each other then towards Tsubasa sympathetically. "So that's why…" Submarimon sighed. He then smiled at the two. "Don't worry. You're not that far anyways."

"You know where it is?!" The rookie bee gasped.

Depthmon then chuckled. "Of course we do. One of the Royal Knights is a close friend of ours." He then point towards the direction of he setting sun. "On that side of the forest, there is huge lake. On the other side is the Royal Knights' Base. You can't go around the lake since it'll take more time and the land is a bit jagged." The blue aquatic digimon explained.

"I see. Thanks!" The boy cheered.

Yasyamon laughed heartily then nodded. "You're welcome. Well then why don't you go for food and get some rest. We'll explain to Cherrymon about you're departure tomorrow." The puppet digimon suggested. All agreed and went inside to get some food save for Yasyamon and Halsemon. When the two came back from talking with Cherrymon, the whole household was still eating. It didn't take long before all of them were asleep since they were exhausted from playing with the kids. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon slept on a futon inside Yasyamon and Halsemon's room. The former two, even though asleep, the smiles on their faces tell that both are excited with their meeting with the Knights.

* * *

Yeah... I really like those armor digivolutions.

Chapter Eight-What awaits Tsubasa and Fanbeemon during their crossing of the lake?


	8. All play and no work

Boy, it's been a while since I last updated. Sorry about that. I'm having trouble balancing school, work and personal activities.

This is part one of chapter 8. Since I didn't give much detail about what they did at the orphanage, this would give the idea of the activities they did.

* * *

Morning arrived and the sun shone brightly over the forest where Cherrymon's settlement stood. The rays of sunlight passed like a wave on the ocean. From the window, the sunlight shone directly at the faces of the partnered pair, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon.

The two grumbled at the sudden blast of light on their faces. Fanbeemon sat up to rub his eyes before opening them to scan the room. The room was big to accommodate the size of Halsemon but it didn't come much of a surprise since the house was rather big for the number of children and the sizes of their caretakers. The room had one wooden bed, to the right of the bee digimon, with some wooden swords and shields hung up on the wall beside it. To the left was a huge nest made by hay and above that was a shelf with some books standing neatly. Behind them was a desk with a picture of the armor digimons and children digimons smiling, doing wacky poses.

The rookie digimon's scanning was interrupted when the one beside him started to wriggle underneath the sheets they were using as blankets. Fanbeemon smiled as he saw his partner, desperately trying to block the sun's rays using his pillow and blankets. "You know, you'll suffocate if you stay like that." Fanbeemon stated when Tsubasa hid his head under the pillow.

The door opened softly and two heads poked through the crack. "Breakfast is ready, you guys." Yasyamon chimed. Below the puppet digimon's head, Halsemon was smiling at the duo on the futon.

A muffled groan sounded and the three digimon looked towards the bundle of sheets. The pillow moved aside and the tamer sat up, glaring at the armor digimons. "Haven't you guys heard of blinds or curtains before?"

"Well… Someone's not a morning person…" Halsemon snickered which earned him a pout from Tsubasa. This, however, made the red beast laugh harder.

The tamer yawned, scratched his messy hair and put on his glasses that were sitting next to his pillow. "Okay, okay, I'm up." Tsubasa stood up then put on his shoes before going to the main room of the tree house with Halsemon and Yasyamon leading and Fanbeemon following the boy.

At the living room of the house, there was a huge hole on the ground that was made into a round couch. In the middle of the hole was a wooden round table. There were also tables around the room, both small and big for the house's occupants. The room was being illuminated up by a huge crystal that was sticking on the ceiling. Small floral plants and vines were growing around the room, giving a reminder that the house was inside a tree. A small pond was also in the room that is surrounded by rocks.

The living room was connected to the main hall and the kitchen and dining room. At the pond, Submarimon and Depthmon were eating porridge and chatting happily. On the floor, Pegasusmon and Nefertimon were sitting and eating soup side by side. Swanmon and Shadramon were cooking in the kitchen while Allomon was waiting by the kitchen, practically drooling over what the chefs were making. Raidramon, Flamedramon and Sagittarimon were on the round couch with plates of their food that seemed to be meat and eggs, and two more, on the table. The trio seemed to be in a fun conversation since their laughs were loud but luckily, not loud enough to wake the children. Digmon and Lynxmon seemed to be missing.

Swanmon spared a look towards the living room and saw the tamer and his partner. "Oh good morning, you two." she greeted gently. This made the other digimons look towards the main hall and greeted their visitors as well. Halsemon and Yasyamon went ahead sat down on the round couch. Knowing not where to go, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon followed suit and sat on the couch as well.

Shadramon came out of the kitchen with two plates of food. Allomon was expecting get his share but was saddened that the fire bug passed him. "Now, now, Allomon, don't you worry." Swanmon started when she stepped out of the kitchen. "We got your food ready. Flamedramon, could you be a dear and help me with this?" The swanmon called out with her wing pointing towards the kitchen.

After being called, Flamedramon stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Shadramon walked past the other fire digimon and went towards the couch. He then hovered above it before placing the plates on the table, in front of Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. The plate had three triangular sandwiches with other contents like tomatoes and lettuce. "Hope you like your meal." Shadramon said before floating away towards the kitchen.

Right before the flame insect entered, a large plate of meat passed came out with Flamedramon and Swanmon pushing it out of the kitchen. As soon as the plate stopped moving, the blue dinosaur immediately started gobbling up the pieces of meat, without even sparing the bones. Swanmon watched as their enormous friend ate happily while the two fire digimons stared in amazement as the meat started to finish quickly.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon took one piece of their sandwiches and bit on one of the pointed ends. "Delishioush!!" Tsubasa squealed with delight while his mouth was full of what he bit off. The rookie digimon just hummed in agreement as he continued to nibble on his own sandwich.

The armor digimons, on the couch, laughed. "Swanmon is one of the best cooks in town, if not the best. You should try her hotpot someday." Raidramon announced cheerfully. This, in turn, made the swan digimon blush which made all the other occupants of the room laugh good-naturedly.

Their laughter was cut short when they heard talking come from the main hall. From the corridor, Digmon and Lynxmon came out with some of the baby digimons riding on their backs. Behind them were a group of in-training and some fresh digimons.

From the back of Lynxmon, a small blue raccoon-like digimon with a metal helmet jumped of and in landed softly on Tsubasa's lap. "Play?" The small creature squeaked. The sudden landing on his lap made Tsubasa jump but was lucky that he wasn't holding one of his sandwiches, holding the plate or bumped the table.

"Kapurimon, don't just pop out like that; especially when Tsubasa is eating." Drillmon scolded lightly.

The human softly petted the top of Kapurimon's head which made the latter purr at the sensation. "Probably I could play for a while before we leave. It can't hurt anybody."

"Tsubasa and Fanbeemon going away?" The raccoon asked sadly with its eyes looking up sadly. The tamer and his partner looked at the other infants and noticed that they, too, held glum on their faces.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon didn't speak and lowered their heads. "We're sorry but we must. We wanted to go meet the Royal Knights and go back to the Royal Base." The rookie bee digimon explained with the same sorrow the children were feeling. "The queen is expecting us to come back."

The human then petted Kapurimon's head once more. When the digimon on his lap looked up, Kapurimon saw that Tsubasa was smiling gently. "Don't worry. I'm sure that the queen will allow us to visit some time in the future and then we'll play together again." At the assurance he got, Kapurimon nodded vigorously and jumped around enthusiastically saying 'play' all the time. This made everyone in the room laugh hard.

Once everyone's stomachs were full, arranged their beds and freshened themselves up, everyone went out towards the yard where a game of Red Light, Green Light was going on. "Green light, green light, green light…., RED LIGHT!!!" Tsubasa and Fanbeemon shouted before turning around from the tree they were facing. Behind them were the children and some of the armor digimons, namely: Raidramon, Lynxmon, Allomon, Halsemon and Depthmon, frozen in different poses. It was hard to eliminate the children, however, since only a few have limbs. The duo inspected the group carefully, seeing the armor digimons struggling to stay on their position and the children were shaking with excitement. The players were at the game for about twenty minutes and have gone through five sets already. The other children and armor digimons were at the side watching the game contentedly.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon faced the tree which was the goal for the digimons and started with the signals again. "Green light, green light, green light…., RED LIGHT!!!" Once more, the pair turned around and saw that the digimons were in different positions and closer to them than the last time. They both looked down and jumped to see that a small red digimon with two wing-like appendages sticking out on top of its head. Fanbeemon said it was a Jyarimon. Out of the mature digimons, Allomon was the one struggling to stay in his position since he was stopped in midstep with his right leg raised up high. Raidramon, Halsemon and Lynxmon had it easy because they had two more legs to balance them off if they were caught in the same situation while Depthmon had no legs so the game was a breeze for him.

It didn't take long before the big blue dinosaur digimon starts to lose his balance. His body started to waiver, his short claws was flailing around while his tail was raised high. "Allomon, you're out!!" Tsubasa and Fanbeemon shouted gleefully. The announcement was the last draw. Seeing the danger, the baby digimons hopped away to escape being squished.

Allomon crashed on the ground, sending a quake around him. When the dust settled, Allomon was there, lying on the ground while staring and frowning at the morning sky. "Aw shocks…" The dinosaur digimon grumbled. His frown changed into the expression of confusion when he felt something moving across his body. Allomon crossed his eyes when he saw a small object standing on his nose.

A small orange snake-like digimon, which seemed like an ant compared to the larger digimon, peeked at the dinosaur's face. The same had a brown underbelly and six spikes sticking out of its head. "Hello Kyokyomon." Allomon said with confusion in his tone. Kyokyomon grinned and stood up straight and proud.

"And winner by pin-fall, Kyokyomon!! The crowd goes wild!!" Sagittarimon chimed then imitated the sound of a cheering crowd. Kyokyomon still stood on Allomon's nose turning every few seconds to boast at everyone. This action made everyone laughing out loud.

After some time to recover, it was off to the next game…. "Tag! You're it!" A small bee-like baby digimon (Puroromon) bellowed as it tapped one of its stubby arms on Fanbeemon's head. As soon as the word was given, the digimons and Tsubasa ran in different directions but away from the rookie digimon. Fanbeemon followed the smaller bee in a mock chase. Seeing as the Puroromon is the In-Training form of him, the partnered digimon just let the young one get away before he chases someone else around.

Considering that the younger digimons have low mobility, Fanbeemon looked for a possible target. The armor digimons were quite faster than expected, however. The small bee then looked towards his partner and was amused to on his feeble attempt to hide behind the bushes about a few feet away. With his insectoid senses, Fanbeemon could easily feel and see his partner's movement.

Fanbeemon zipped through the air as fast as he could to reach Tsubasa. In response, Tsubasa made a mad dash to get away from the 'it' digimon. The two chased each other, completely forgetting about the other players. The children and their caretakers laughed loudly as the duo ran past them countless times, trying to tag each other. In the end, Tsubasa collapsed right in front of their audience, lying on his front and looking tired. Fanbeemon, also exhausted, landed gently on his partner's back and lay on the same position. The two received giggles from the children and their caretakers.

Nefertimon looked up and stared at the sun for a while before lowering her head. "It's close to lunch time. Let's go." The white sphinx stood up and walked towards the house with Swanmon. The children followed the female digimons inside.

"Do you want to join us, you two?" Depthmon asked politely. The two were about to speak when their stomachs growled loudly. Their cheeks immediately flared a bright red.

"Come on then! Let's eat!" Allomon roared enthusiastically before marching towards the house. The others followed their large blue friend, with the human and his partner shortly behind them.

Their lunch was far from a quiet one. The living room was filled with the sounds of munching, glasses hitting each other and idle chatting. All were in the discussion of the games they played and the children's plans for when Tsubasa and Fanbeemon return to play with them.

* * *

Thank you to those who are reading this.

Hope you bear with me.

Please review.


	9. Preparations and Departure

Hey, sorry for being away for so long! I've been very busy with work and school that I didn't have the time to write any new chapters. Also, it's hard that my brother kept hogging the PC for his final project.

Here is the next chapter!

* * *

It was well after lunch time when Tsubasa and Fanbeemon decided to go ahead with their journey to the base of the Royal Knights. The baby digimons protested but were convinced by promises of them seeing the duo some other time from their caretakers and the pair themselves. Depthmon volunteered to accompany them to the lake that was between the village and the base. Before they went, however, they paid a visit to the settlement's leader, Cherrymon.

Cherrymon was in the middle of a conversation with a humanoid dinosaur digimon with multiple blades equipped (Dinohumon) and a floating fish-like digimon with silver metallic scales (Coelamon). The large tree noticed the trio approaching him and softly excused himself from the discussion to face his guests. "Tsubasa, Fanbeemon, what can I do for you? Are you alright?" Cherrymon inquired in a hush tone so that Coelamon and Dinohumon could not hear.

"Cherrymon," The small bee started. "We appreciate you letting us stay in your settlement but we have to go."

Cherrymon's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the three, while Dinohumon and Coelamon looked at each other in confusion. "Must you leave so soon?" Cherrymon asked with evident sorrow.

The tamer nodded slightly. "We have to meet with the Royal Knights and get back to the Royal Base as soon as possible." Unlike his partner who showed indifference while he spoke, Tsubasa's face held sadness equal to Cherrymon's.

The old vegetation digimon stood with his head hung low, his eyes being covered by the leaves his branched carried. As the young duo waited for Cherrymon's answer, Tsubasa couldn't help to feel bad about the situation. Even if it was only for a day, the human already enjoyed the atmosphere of the settlement. The children in the daycare readily accepted them, the citizens treated him with as much respect as they would any other digimon and without hesitating on offering any of their services. "Cherrymon, we-." The boy started only to be interrupted by Cherrymon, who raised his hand.

"It's quite alright, young one. I understand." With that, the giant tree slowly lowered is hand and looked at the pair with a fatherly smile. "Please come visit us again when you have the time, alright?" Cherrymon asked gently.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked at each other with surprised looked but then laughed good-naturedly. They faced the tree digimon with big grins on their faces. "We will!!"

Cherrymon nodded before speaking once more. "Well, I think I can arrange an escort for your crossing of the lake. Have you gotten all you need?"

"Well, we could use some food for our return trip." Fanbeemon stated. His antenna started to wiggle, went stiff then went back to normal. "Based on my signals, we won't be able to go through here if we want to get back to the Royal Base early."

"You're in luck then." Cherrymon chimed which earned him questioning stares from the digidestined. The large tree gestured to the humanoid digimon he was talking to earlier. "This is Dinohumon, he owns a food stall in the market nearby. I'm sure he will be of help to you, won't you, Dinohumon?" The vegetation digimon asked.

"My pleasure, sir." Dinohumon replied.

Cherrymon faced the duo once more. "I'll have your escort and transport ready for you when you get to the lake." With that, Dinohumon, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon went towards Dinohumon's establishment. The trio walked down a path that leads to a very busy section of the settlement. A lot of digimons carrying sacks or pulling carts were headed to the same section.

As Dinohumon, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon reached the marketplace, they saw that the whole area was bustling with activity. Some digimons who were running the stalls calling out to any potential customers, while other digimons were looking at the merchandises, continue walking, or talking with fellow consumers or the stall owners. They could see a Flymon selling fruits and vegetables, a Shellmon selling fresh seafood and a Garurumon selling fresh meat among the vendors. There were other digimons who had stores inside hollowed trees.

The trio stopped at a hollow tree with several products that were already lined up neatly in front and inside it. Inside, there was a table that had a cash register on it. Dinohumon entered, with Fanbeemon and Tsubasa following, and looked around which left the duo confused. "Hey Grizzlymon, where are you?" Dinohumon called out. He was answered with rustling sound from the door behind the counter.

A large blue bear appeared from the back. The blue bear had a crescent moon mark on its head and wore red shoulder guards and gloves with sharps claws. "Welcome back, my friend." The bear said.

"How are the sales going?" Dinohumon asked.

The bear snorted. "Good as always. Oh and Leomon already claimed his order while you were gone." The bear stated nonchalantly. He then noticed the two figures behind Dinohumon. "Who are those two? It's surprising to see a human around these parts."

The dinosaur hybrid turned to look at the duo sheepishly. How could he have forgotten to introduce them? "Sorry. Welcome to our store. This is my partner, Grizzlymon." Dinohumon gestured to the bear.

Grizzlymon just dipped his head slightly before grinning. "Whatever you need, we got it; just name it." Grizzlymon announced in a gruff yet jovial voice which earned his giggles from the young duo.

"Well, we need some rations and probably some medical supplies for when we're travelling back to the Royal Base." Fanbeemon explained. The two store owners looked at each other then started to look through their inventory. After a short while, Dinohumon and Grizzlymon laid out a first aid kit and two boxes of what seemed to be juice packs. One box were filled with juice packs that had symbols of fruits while the other one simply had digialphabets on them. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa stared at the box for a while before the former scowled at the older pair. "We wanted food, not beverages." Annoyance was evident in the bee's voice.

"No, no, no. This is juice." Dinohumon pointed to box of packs with fruit symbols. "And this one is food." The hybrid then pointed to the other box.

"This is a new treat made by the Burgermons, a group of digimons that are great at cooking." Grizzlymon started to explain. "The ones with digialphabets on them are packs with paste in them. The paste tastes like the food that is written on the cover. If you consumed a pack that had 'Pizza' on it, then the paste inside it taste like pizza."

Fanbeemon eyed the packs suspiciously and was shocked when he heard his partner hummed with understanding. "So it's like the food astronauts eat when their out in space. Cool!" It was clear that he boy was excited about the idea of the food but suddenly, his smile disappeared and he looked worried. "The only thing is that we don't have any money." Tsubasa voiced in low volumes.

It was then that Tsubasa's digivice started to beep. When taken out, the screen showed the data of the digimon they defeated. The data disappeared and was replaced by the phrase "750 Bits". "What's this supposed to mean?" The boy inquired.

Fanbeemon hovered over Tsubasa's shoulder and looked at the screen with his head cocked to the side. "Hmm… It seems that we have received money from the digimon we managed to defeat and the money is stored in your digivice. Bits is the Digiworld's currency." The rookie digimon then looked to dinosaur hybrid. "Exactly, how much for the first aid kit and for each pack?"

Dinohumon picked up a clipboard that was on a crate by the counter and proceeded to flip through the pages. "The kit is worth 200 bits and each pack costs about 25." Dinohumon read aloud.

Fanbeemon thought hard, calculating how much they would need based on the signal he could sense from the Royal Base. The signal could give him an estimate on how far they are from the hive. "We could probably go with eight of each pack." The bee declared. Fanbeemon allowed his partner to choose whatever flavor the human wanted and pushed a button on the digivice to pay for the supplies.

After the transaction, Dinohumon excused himself from the shop to accompany the digidestined to the lake shore. To get to their destination, the trio went through the main part of the settlement, and through a familiar section. As they walked down the street, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa recognized the area as to where they ate with Yashamon and Halsemon.

As the group was about to pass the restaurant, they heard a commotion from inside and they heard the three chefs yelling. "Ain't the food ready yet?!" Flarerizamon bellowed impatiently.

"Just a little while longer, darn it!!" Hyougamon replied in the same volume.

"We better hurry or we might be too late!" Woodmon's voice came out in a lower volume than the other two chefs.

The trio outside stared at the restaurant as multiple crashes and more yelling were heard inside. A moment later, Hyougamon came out of the restaurant carrying a package, only to be stopped upon seeing the digidestined. "Oh, it's you perfect timing. It's good you haven't left." The ice ogre commented. He then turned his head towards the restaurant. "Hey guys, the kids are here!" Hyougamon called out.

Flarerizamon and Woodmon came out of the restaurant and were happy to see Tsubasa and Fanbeemon standing outside their restaurant. "We're glad to see we made it just in time before you, young'uns, left the sanctuary." Flarerizamon sighed contentedly and somewhat exhausted.

"Lord Cherrymon passed-by earlier and said that you were going already." Woodmon said with a hint of sadness. "After we hear about it, we made you a little treat for the road."

Hyougamon handed the package over to Tsubasa. "It's a bento. We've put some of the basics in there since we don't really know what food you like." Hyougamon explained. "The next time you come by, you can tell us and we'll try to make it for you."

Tsubasa bowed. "Thank you." Fanbeemon bowed as well.

"You're welcome." All three chefs said simultaneously.

"Well, how about we join you and your way to the lake?" The flame dragon digimon offered.

Fanbeemon's head cocked to the side. "Are you sure it's okay for you to leave your restaurant for a while?"

Hyougamon shrugged in response. "There are no customers inside so it's okay to close up for a while."

The three chefs went inside to check if their establishment would be safe while they were gone. After awhile, the three chefs came out of the restaurant; Woodmon flipping the sign on the door to "Closed" and locking the door.

"So how did you like our settlement?" Dinohumon asked as the group walked down the path leading to the lake.

"Well…" Tsubasa started. "It was great. The people here are so kind."

The insectoid nodded. "I'm surprised they were able to accept us considering…" The five digimons fell silent, knowing what the rookie digimon was thinking.

Hyougamon decided to break the silence. "We have faith on Lord Cherrymon's judgment of character. If he says you are okay, then we accept that."

"True some still harbor a grudge on humans." Flarerizamon spoke. "But, majority of us here have accepted humans especially after what they did for our worlds five years ago."

"We have learned that humans are not to be feared but not to be underestimated as well." Woodmon stated. "We should try to work with the humans to create a peaceful atmosphere between our worlds."

The rest of the way, the four champion digimons asked Tsubasa about details on the world of the humans. The boy answered as much as he could and the four older digimons listened to every word the young human said. A few minutes later, they reached the shoreline of the lake where Cherrymon. The horizon could not be clearly seen because of a mist hovering over the water and mangroves are all over the shore. The water on the lake looked calm.

Cherrymon turned as he heard footsteps heading his way. "Ah, I see that you have all you need." The large vegetation digimon said upon seeing Tsubasa's bag filled. "Are there any other concerns before leaving?" Tsubasa shook his head.

"If I may ask," Fanbeemon started worriedly. "How are we to cross the lake?"

"I could answer that question, dude." A teenager's voice came from behind the group. All of them looked towards the source of the voice and saw a humanoid digimon that looked like a shark wearing blue metallic armor with yellow and red spikes protruding. The digimon was carrying what looked like a metal surf board that was the shape of a hammerhead shark.

Tsubasa's digivice beeped loudly until the boy took it out. The screen flashed revealing a hologram of the new digimon and its details.

Surfimon-Mega Cyborg Digimon-Vaccine Type-An amphibious digimon who carries a mechanical surfboard as a weapon and tool. He is mostly seen around the Net Ocean, surfing the waves and going where the flow of the waters take him. This laid-back digimon has the ability to talk to wild aquatic digimons. His fighting abilities are still unknown.

Surfimon laughed heartily. "Looks like my reputation precedes me."

"So… We're going to ride on your surfboard?" Fanbeemon asked curiously while he studied the board.

"Woah, sorry bro but no one rides my board but me." The shark-like digimon gripped his surfboard hard against his head. "I'm going to ask one of my friends to give you a ride across."Surfimon explained.

Surfimon walked towards the water until it was on knee level. He raised his right hand and whistled loudly with two of his fingers by his lips. Silence lingered around the shore; only the soft sound of water and the wind howling could be heard. A minute later, a splash, coming from beyond the mist, was picked up by Fanbeemon. Alert as he was, his antennae went stiff, trying to sense what could have caused the sudden motion.

As if to answer the bee digimon, a large shadow appeared on the surface of the water. The shadow stayed still for a while before making a beeline towards the shore. Fanbeemon immediately hovered forward in front of his partner and took on a defensive stance. Tsubasa looked nervous as he watched the shadow move while the other digimons smiled.

Before reaching the shoreline, the shadow disappeared momentarily. Not long after, the water exploded, drenching the group. Luckily, Dinohumon, Flarerizamon, Hyougamon, Woodmon and the digidestined were standing underneath Cherrymon's branches so they did not get wet. Surfimon did get wet but seemed to enjoy the event. When the water calmed down, there was a serpent like digimon sitting on the water. The serpent wore a yellow skull on its head.

Surfimon moved towards the new digimon and started to stoke the skull on its head, earning a low purring sound from the latter. He then turned to the digidestined and grinned proudly. "This is my buddy, Seadramon." Just as the mega digimon said the name, Seadramon raised its head and roared. "You will ride on Seadramon's back to get to the other side of the lake."

Fanbeemon eyed the aquatic digimon suspiciously. "Are you sure it's safe?" Fanbeemon questioned. "Seadramons are not exactly known for their calm dispositions. Only a handful of them are intelligent enough to recognize friendlies."

Seadramon was not happy with that remark. As if to prove his irritation, he raised his tail high and swung it towards the surface of the water, shooting a water cluster expertly towards the rookie digimon. Fanbeemon yelped at the sensation. "I'd say something dude but looks like Seadramon beat me to it." Surfimon snickered. Everyone, Tsubasa included, giggled at the drenched bee and Seadramon stared at the group with mischief sparkling in his eyes.

After drying off, Fanbeemon and Tsubasa carefully climbed up unto the back off the serpent with the assistance of Surfimon. "Alright, big buddy, take them towards the other side of the lake, alright?" Surfimon stressed on the direction by pointing straight ahead, towards the mist.

Seadramon just dipped its head as a reply.

"Now don't worry." The surfer digimon reassured. "Seadramon will get you to the other side safe and sound."

"We hope to see you again, young ones." Cherrymon said hopefully. The digidestined nodded, seemingly eager to see the settlement once more sometime in the future. With that, Seadramon began to move towards the mist. All the while, the group were shouting their goodbyes and waving at each other until they could not see each other.

* * *

I know I've been away for so long so sorry if I don't do well with this chapter.

Please R&R.


	10. World Tree Ho!

There was nothing to see around the lone figures that were crossing the water of the lake and no sound, other than the splashing of water, could be heard. Tsubasa Matsumoto started to feel uneasy as he sat on the back of Seadramon, the boy and his partner digimon's transport across. He kept looking to where the serpent was going, hoping that the fog would clear but to no avail which disappointed the chosen child. The boy's discomfort did not come unnoticed by Fanbeemon. The bee digimon was hovering in front of his partner. The three left Cherrymon's settlement 15 minutes ago and still no indication of the fog clearing.

"You have to hand it to Cherrymon." The rookie digimon commented seeming astounded. "I heard about what his fog could do but I didn't think it could go like this." Fanbeemon turned often, looking towards different directions and gave small glances towards his partner.

Fanbeemon sighed, knowing he failed at his attempts to help lift his partner's spirits. Tsubasa's head hung low; the boy not moving an inch from where he sat at the beginning of their crossing. "Tsubasa?" Fanbeemon called worriedly. Receiving no reply or seeing no indication of getting one, the insectoid move closer to his partner and tapped the latter on the shoulder. The scream of terror and slap he received after his tap surprised Fanbeemon. He looked towards Tsubasa and saw that he was staring at his left hand, the hand he used to swat his partner, shockingly.

"Tsubasa-" Fanbeemon started but was interrupted by the chosen child.

"I'm sorry." Tsubasa said softly and repeatedly said it while breaking into tears. It was apparent that Seadramon was feeling worried about his passenger as he stopped moving, raised then turned his head to look at the human curiously.

"I'll take care of this." Fanbeemon told Seadramon; the latter lowered his head into the water and started moving again, trusting that the rookie digimon could help the human.

The rookie digimon floated closer to his partner, who kept apologizing and crying for what he did earlier on. Fanbeemon stared sadly at his distraught partner. Fanbeemon landed on his partner's lap and wrapped his arms on Tsubasa and portray the best hug he could do. However, it did not stop the boy from what he was doing; only holding his partner digimon close to him. He then looked up straight into Tsubasa's eyes. "Tsubasa, please don't cry. I'm fine, really." Fanbeemon reassured.

"B-But still, I hurt you. " The chosen child squeaked.

Fanbeemon shook his head quickly. "I'm fine! It's nothing, really. If you really want to hear it, then I forgive you."

Tsubasa apologized once more before he raised his arms, gripped his partner and held him softly in a hug. "I couldn't see anything… I could feel you but at the same time, something was telling me that you weren't there… I know that there's Seadramon but… It's not the same…"

The small insectoid stared at human sadly before lifting Tsubasa's left hand with his right claw and patting the hand with the other. "Tsubasa…" Fanbeemon sighed. "You know that I would never leave you alone intentionally. Even I did, it'll cause me a lot of pain because I am rejecting a part of me. We are connected through your digisoul and that connection could never be broken by any force." The rookie digimon then raised his right claw and lifted Tsubasa's face so they could see eye to eye. "The moment that relationship was formed, protecting you became my duty. I would and could never betray or leave you, remember that." The two continued to look into each other's eyes; one with teary, worried eyes and the other has confident and reassuring eyes.

The boy then raised his hands and wiped his tears away before grinning widely at his partner. Fanbeemon smiled back, nodded then went back to looking out to the fog while staying near the human.

Seadramon gently slithered across the water as his two passengers scanned the area, hoping to see the expanse of the lake. When Tsubasa was about fully convinced that the mist wasn't going to end, a beam of light hit his face. The mist started to clear and the surroundings started to get brighter. As the serpent digimon finally got out of the fog, the digidestined able to see everything.

The shores to their right were connected to a forest with a snowcapped mountain range on the horizon. To the left was a savannah with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see; a herd of monochromons were grazing on the grass. In front of them, land was visible but at the pace they were going, Fanbeemon calculated at will be some time before they reached the other side. On the land, there stood a gigantic tree.

"Is that tree-?" Tsubasa stopped in midsentence, awestruck by the size of the plant. He could clearly see the roots of the tree spreading out and some of the roots were also visible on the savannah and the foot of the mountains.

Fanbeemon nodded then replied with some amazement in his voice as well. "The World Tree, the base of the legendary Royal Knights."

Tsubasa looked towards the water and a lone Ebidramon swim by while a school of digital bass passed underneath it. The sky momentarily went dark as a Brimpmon, humming loudly, passed above the group. As the digidestined duo was taking in the scenery, a figure was watching them from under the water.

"Are digital fish safe for me to eat?" The human asked curiously as he continued to look towards the water. He could only see up to a few feet beneath the water but the amount of aquatic life he was able to see was satisfying enough for his inquisitiveness.

"Some are, some aren't. Digianchovies are considered a favorite among digimons." Fanbeemon laughed. He then suddenly felt Seadramon being nervous about the topic; the serpent was slithering a bit stiffer than usual. The insect was confused at first but then realized something. "Of course, aquan digimons are off the menu." Fanbeemon added with a slight humor. That simple statement took out Seadramon's fear.

All was well for minutes, a few small chit-chats here and there; nothing special until Seadramon came to an abrupt stop. Luckily, Tsubasa did not go overboard. Fanbeemon hovered towards Seadramon's head to ask what's wrong when he saw the water digimon's eyes were producing tears. "What's wrong Seadramon?"

In response, Seadramon raised its tail and swung it to the side so Fanbeemon and Tsubasa could see. The two gaped as they saw a metallic fish biting Seadramon's tail. The fish had a cube head made of silver steel and so was the tail fin. On top of its head, there was a shiny red button. The rest was made of orange metal that was shaped into scales. The digivice started to beep uncontrollably and, after being taken out, produced the data about the fish.

MetalPiranimon-Mega Aquatic Digimon-Virus Type-A carrier of the X Antibody. A swarm of these dangerous Digimon were discovered within the Net Rivers of a particular region, and though it is said that the number of Digimon that have become Ultimates is extremely small, there are schools of these Digimon which will bite into any Digimon who passes into their territory, killing it immediately. There are razor-sharp teeth in its "Metal Head" cranium, and because its tenacious jaw functions like a vise, it bites and completely rends every armor. However, because the feature named "Metal Head" is extremely heavy, it keeps its balance with the weight attached to its tail fin. Also, if the red button on its calvaria is pressed then it will simply come off, and be replaced with a new "Metal Head".

"That's a Mega digimon?" Tsubasa said loudly. "Isn't it little for a Mega?" MetalPiranimon glared at the human, getting a squeak from the latter.

Fanbeemon shrugged as he stared at MetalPiranimon; the latter was wiggling from being away from the water. "You'd be surprised the sizes of some of the digimons compared to their level." Fanbeemon moved towards the fish and poked it with his right claw. MetalPiranimon wiggled once more and Seadramon whimpered. "Tough little guy…" The rookie digimon sighed before pointing his stinger at the mini-mega digimon.

Seeing that the insectoid was about to do something to it, MetalPiranimon instantly let go and drop into the water. The duo riding the serpent stared confusingly at the water while the latter was inspecting his injured tail. The bitten area showed teeth marks and was bleeding a little.

Tsubasa was first to snap out. "That was weird. Probably doesn't have air anymore." The boy commented.

"Probably." Fanbeemon spoke before turning to look at Seadramon's face. "You okay?" The serpent nodded, despite his eyes were showing tears from the pain. Tsubasa just rubbed its skull cap. "We should consider ourselves lucky. It was a lone MetalPiranimon. I hear they're very dangerous when they're in a school." The bee explained.

As if in response, an area of the water to the left started to bubble violently. The three watched the water worriedly until the bubbling stopped. A MetalPiranimon came up and stared at them. "Is that the one who bit Seadramon?" Tsubasa asked. Suddenly, more MetalPiranimons appeared and grinned at them wickedly.

"I'm pretty sure ONE of them bit Seadramon." Fanbeemon squeaked while shaking with fear, knowing that even digivolving would not help their circumstance. The MetalPiranimons squirmed closer to them then Seadramon moved back a little. Again, the MetalPiranimons closed in and Seadramon backed off once more. They continued these movements until a large Digibass passing through was quickly devoured by the mega digimons.

After seeing the fish reduced to nothing but floating bones, Seadramon made a bee line towards the shore where the World Tree was. Tsubasa was screaming while Fanbeemon glared at the school of flesh-eating fishes. From above, one would see a circle of bubbling water chasing the travelers. As the MetalPiranimons start to close in, Seadramon's swimming became more erratic, swerving in any direction, scaring his passengers even more.

At the shore by the World Tree, a large red and white winged dragon, the size of a six-storey building, was sleeping soundly. The dragon had multiple white spike on his head, running down his back, and had an extremely long tail. "No, Volcdramon… I do not think I can eat another bite…" The dragon mumbled before he started to stir. He could hear shouting from somewhere near and it was disturbing his regular afternoon nap. The dragon opened his eyes slightly, yawned and looked towards the lake. He could clearly see a Seadramon passing by with two smaller forms on its back while a group of MetalPiranimons were right on its tail.

"Those ones always cause trouble to the digimons around here." The wings on the dragon opened widely, showing the magnificence of the red scales that adorns them. The dragon stood up and picked up the colossal lance that was lying next to him. "I guess I should help them before somebody gets really hurt." With that, the dragon flew towards the escaping group.

"CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING, FANBEEMON?" Tsubasa screamed at the top of his lungs; his hands were gripping the skull cap Seadramon wore.

"I can't! My rookie level attacks won't even hurt them and I can't go into the water on both my rookie and champion forms!" Fanbeemon explained trying to be calm and thinking of a way to get out of their mess. Seadramon continued swimming, swerving in different directions. The MetalPiranimon were starting to get closer. One jumped out of the water and tried to land a bite on the serpent but was met with Gear Stinger from the bee, pushing it back.

After a while though, due to their frightened state, the trio did not know that their pursuers already fund a plan to get them. The school separated while a small group continued to chase their target. Seadramon turned once more towards the tree but was met with three MetalPiranimons blocking his path. He quickly turned but again, MetalPiranimons were there in his path. Seadramon was about to turn but saw that he was surrounded in a circle of the flesh eaters.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked at the mega digimons fearfully; the latter getting ready to attack if anyone moved. As the MetalPiranimons were about to move, a loud roar sounded from the air, making even the water surface visibly vibrate from its usual movement. A large shadow was circling the group of attackers and their targets. All on the water looked up and saw a large red dragon, holding a giant spear-like weapon, was flying in circles above them.

The dragon rotated its body so that the tip of his right wing was slicing through the water surface. The flying digimon formed a ring around Seadramon and the MetalPiranimons backed off a little. The dragon then leveled itself then hovered above the trio. "Move, MetalPiranimons." The dragon said sternly. "Find you food somewhere else. I will not allow you to harm these three while I'm around. Go!" With that, the fish digimons hesitantly fled.

The dragon then moved forward then looked towards the three forms on the water. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were amazed at the sheer size of the digimon above them while Seadramon was just happy he wasn't on someone's menu anymore. "Are you alright?" The dragon asked in a deep voice but concern was evident.

Fanbeemon was the one to reply. "Y-Yes, we're fine. Thank you, sir." Tsubasa, however, was still staring which made the giant digimon uncomfortable but did not show the smaller ones.

The dragon nodded. "Good. You should try to be careful. It is the MetalPiranimon breeding season and some of them can get agitated quite easily." The giant digimon explained. "I will escort you to where you are going. So where to?"

The human then stopped staring and replied. "We are going to the World Tree, the headquarters of the Royal Knights."

The dragon looked at them questioningly before nodding once more. "Alright, I will take you there." The dragon said nonchalantly. It then flew slowly towards the World Tree while Seadramon followed the large digimon.

"Fanbeemon, do you know this digimon?" Tsubasa asked innocently.

The bee digimon shook his head. "No, this is the first time I've seen this type of digimon." He then looked towards his partner. "I'm surprised that your digivice hasn't shown any data about that digimon." The boy took out his digivice and was confused as well.

Shortly after the offer of escort, the group reached the shore near the World Tree safe and sound. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon stepped off Seadramon while the huge dragon landed in front of them. "Here we are. From here on, you two," The dragon pointed towards the human and rookie digimon. "Will stay with me at all times. The World Tree's interior is like a labyrinth. One can get easily lost." The dragon lowered his left hand where Tsubasa and Fanbeemon boarded on. The large digimon started to fly up towards the top of the tree. Tsubasa waved towards Seadramon who waved back with its tail before submerging into the water.

Fanbeemon looked towards the dragon's head, curiosity getting to him. "If you don't mind me asking, how is it that you can get close to the World Tree so calmly?"

The dragon just grinned at them. "Let's just say, I have some strong friends." The dragon stated sheepishly. The partnered looked at each other but did not say anything. They continued the flight in silence.

Past the leaves of the World Tree, the inside is hollowed out for the headquarters. The dragon landed softly in the room then let his companions down. The inside of the tree had pristine crystalline walls and the floor was made of solid rock. Multiple hallways can be seen and there are floating obelisks moving about the room.

One of the obelisks came down and hovered in front of Tsubasa and stayed still. Tsubasa looked towards the dragon and saw the latter smiling at him. "Do not fret. It is just studying you. These obelisks serve as guardians of this fortress. As long as you are near me, they won't attack." The dragon explained. After a while, the obelisk rose up and continued moving about the room.

Fanbeemon glared at the dragon. "Alright, this is really getting suspicious. First, you could get in the World Tree calmly, you said that you have friends here, then you can pass security like it was nothing. Who exactly are you?" Fanbeemon demanded. The only reply he got was a grin.

Just then, they could hear loud footsteps coming from the hall on their left. Hey could also hear voices getting louder and louder.

"The attacks on the northern mountains are getting fiercer by the week. At this rate, the villages in that area, or even the mountains themselves, will be completely destroyed." One voice said.

"We will have to try to talk with Vikemon about this. I am sure he has heard of these incidents and is planning something for it." Another voice rang.

From the doorway, two human-dragon hybrid digimons appeared: One was wearing blue and white armor with a blue cape on his back. He was wearing silver bracers, with oblong parts attached, on each wrist. The most eye-catching this was a huge golden V on his chest. His helm was blue, streamlined, with two white horns on top. His gentle blue eyes were visible through two holes on his helm. The other digimon was wearing white, purple and gold armor with purple wings on his back. His claws had red orbs on the palms. His helm had two horns, one on each side, and had holes that show fierce golden eyes.

The blue armored digimon was the first one to notice the dragon. "Oh, you are awake. We were expecting you at a later time." The blue digimon stated, somewhat confused.

The red dragon chuckled. "My nap was interrupted. If I did not wake, however, these two might be gone by now." The full dragon gestured to the two smaller forms beside him.

The white digimon knelt and stared at the duo. "Another human? And I'm guessing this is his partner?" The white armored digimon asked.

Tsubasa nervously stepped forward. "H-Hello. M-My name is Tsubasa, Tsubasa Matsumoto. Nice to meet you." The boy stuttered. He then looked at his partner. "And this is-?" He saw that Fanbeemon was shocked, at the very least. His mandible was wide open, sweat was forming on his metallic head and he was staring at the two armored digimons.

"Is he alright?" The blue digimon asked, concerned about the insectoid.

"Y-You're…" Fanbeemon said, nervousness getting the best of him.

Tsubasa's head cocked to the side. "Do you know them?" He could hear the white digimon mumbling something to himself.

"Y-You're… Ulf-forceVeedramon…" He pointed his claw towards the blue armor clad digimon then pointed to the white digimon. "A-and y-you're D-D-Dynasmon." Just then, realization came to him. He then faced the red dragon. "T-Then you must be…"

The red dragon laughed. "I should probably introduce myself now." He rose up and floated towards the front of UlforceVeedramon and Dynasmon then faced Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. "I am Examon, the Dragon Emperor and member of the Royal Knights. Welcome to the World Tree." The dragon announced. The digidestined duo just stared at the dragon with their mouths open.

* * *

Again I don't own any of the digimons here. All details of the digimons come from Digimon Wikia.

Please read and review.

Thank you.


	11. Assembly of the Royal Knights

Hello!

In this chapter, I made two original digimons. In the database, eleven out of thirteen Royal Knights have been identified while the other two have no clear information about them as of yet. To complete the thirteen, I created those two.

A small hint of X Evolution comes with this chapter.

Here it is! Chapter 11!

* * *

Examon stood proudly, chin up and wings spread out widely while grinning. "Sorry if I didn't introduce myself earlier on I just wanted to see how you would react." The dragon emperor stated. "Not many digimons could identify me as a Royal Knight, you see." He waited for a response o f some sort but was met with silence. He looked down at the human and the bee and both were still staring at him.

UlforceVeedramon and Dynasmon moved forward; the former waving his hand in front of Fanbeemon and again no response. "Splendid…" Dynasmon sighed. "I believe you have successfully broken their minds, Examon." He stressed the sentence by glaring at the red dragon who just looked sheepish. The white armored knight then looked concerned at Tsubasa.

"Perhaps we should take them to Dr. Jijimon's Hospital?" UlforceVeedramon asked innocently while raising a finger to poke the bee digimon.

"UlforceVeedramon, do not poke him! It is rude." Dynasmon reprimanded.

The blue knight stood and mumbled. "I was just trying to help."

Dynasmon stared at the digidestined. "Well, the hospital is a bit far and I do not think they would appreciate being brought to another place when they came here. Which reminds me," Dynasmon then turned towards Examon. "I would like to hear the reason why you brought them here in the first place." All he got was a shrug.

Humming then sounded from another hallway. The three knights looked towards the source and saw red armored centaur digimon trotting happily towards them. "You seem to be in a rather good mood, Kentaurosmon." Examon commented.

Kentaurosmon smiled at them gently. "It's just nice to see the digimons living peacefully. It just feels like the Gizumon war has never happened." Kentaurosmon explained with his soft voice. He then noticed the two still-in-shock entities on the ground and was surprised himself. "A… A new human? Here? How? And how are you three calm about this?"

Dynasmon shrugged. "Examon brought them here while UlforceVeedramon and I were too busy knowing why they froze like they are now." The white dragonic knight explained nonchalantly. "We have not communicated with humans as much as you have so we do not know if this is normal or not."

The centaur knight crossed his arms on his chest while looking the digidestined over. "They seem to be extremely surprised." Before Kentaurosmon spoke again, he and the two humanoid dragon knights could hear the other dragon knight apologize. "I would suggest splashing some water on them; not too much though."

UlforceVeedramon whistled and two obelisks came down from above. He explained what they should do then they each obelisk released a small jet of water, hitting Tsubasa and Fanbeemon straight on their faces. When the knights heard coughing, UlforceVeedramon nodded at the obelisks, stopping the water and the obelisks went back to their duty.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon both shook their head to shake of the water on their faces; the former using his shirt to wipe the water off his glasses. "You could have done that a bit gentler!" Fanbeemon snapped, earning four good-hearted chuckles.

"Forgive us, especially Examon." Dynasmon chuckled. "It was either that or be awakened by UlforceVeedramon poking you." The said digimon proved what his friend said by raising his right hand's index finger.

The rookie digimon grumbled before looking towards the new digimon and jumped. "You're Kentaurosmon!" Fanbeemon shouted. "Wow, all of you are more magnificent reading from books. However,-" He then looked towards Examon. "Why is it that nobody has written anything on your description? Your name appeared in different books but none of them described you as a full dramon."

"I am the only Royal Knight that is a pure beast digimon." Examon stated somewhat sadly. "The authors probably have figured that it would be best that they did not disclose that information especially with the rough history between human and beast digimons. Added to the fact that I rarely come to the World Tree might give a wrong impression with the beast digimons." The red dragon smiled as much as he could while saying that. He received a pat on the back from UlforceVeedramon for comfort.

"Where do you go when you're not here?" Tsubasa asked curiously and sympathetically.

Kentaurosmon, seeing his friend feeling down, answered for him. "Examon does not carry the title Dragon Emperor just for show. He is the leader of the Dragon's Roar faction, the group that manages the affairs of all dragon type digimons in the DigiWorld." The centaur looked towards the red dragon who nodded his thanks.

"Another question, if you don't mind." Fanbeemon called. "We understand the issue with the records but why didn't Tsubasa's digivice show any data about you."

The four knights looked at each other with uncertainty then looked back at the duo in front of them. "That would be a question better suited for our leader, Lord Alphamon." Ulforceveedramon said. The other knights just nodded.

Fanbeemon was taken aback. "L-Lord Alphamon has revealed himself?" Again, the knights nodded. "S-So, is he here in the World Tree?" The bee enquired somewhat excitedly; his wings flapping quicker and his antennae wiggling.

"No, he is not." Examon replied. Feeling better now. "Lord Alphamon has a special power within him that makes him the leader of the Royal Knights and at the same time, he isn't the leader."

"I'm confused." Tsubasa sighed.

"Lord Alphamon's power rightfully puts him in the highest rank of the Royal Knights." Examon continued his explanation. "However, the same power also restricts him from taking over. Thus, he is the leader but not all the time. This is also the reason why he is called the Lord of the Empty Seat."

Fanbeemon took in the information, his excitement diminished, before he looked up at the red dragon once more. "Are you sure it is okay for you to be telling us this information? That data should have been classified among the Royal Knights."

Kentaurosmon smiled at them and waved his hands. "It is alright. Having fought with the digidestined in the past, we have concluded that we can trust any future chosen children and digimons with these kinds of information and trust them that they will not disclose these information to others."

"We can contact Lord Alphamon when we want to. It'll be up to him if he wants to come. However, if it concerns you, it will be most probable that he will come." UlforceVeedramon voiced.

"What does he do when he's not here?" Tsubasa asked.

Dynasmon shrugged. "We actually do not know. All we heard was he was living a quiet life and he is quite enjoying himself." The white dragonic knight said flatly.

UlforceVeedramon turned towards the hallway he and Dynasmon came from. "Come with us. We can contact Lord Alphamon in the Server Room."

Fanbeemon quickly spoke. "No, it's okay. Lord Alphamon wasn't the one we meant to talk to. We wanted to talk to Daimon Masaru. We were told that he was here." The little bee almost babbled.

The knights looked at each other yet again then at the duo. "He's not here as well. Masaru and the other chosen digimons left for a mission yesterday and haven't come back since then." Kentaurosmon explained.

"Feel free to wait for them here. For now, why not introduce you to the other Royal Knights?" Examon suggested. Suddenly, two squeals of excitement echoed through the halls of the World Tree.

At the command center of the World Tree, eight knights lounged about, waiting for to see the reason for their comrades summoning them. The eight knights looked towards a hallway when they heard footsteps echoing from it. From the door, emerged Dynasmon, UlforceVeedramon, Kentaurosmon, Examon, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. All eight summoned knights were surprised to see another human in the DigiWorld.

"Brothers-in-Arms," Dynasmon started. "I would like to introduce the newest chosen pair, Tsubasa Matsumoto and Fanbeemon."

A blue and white dragon white golden armor came close to the new arrivals and knelt to stare at the digidestined. The red eyes from the holes on his helm showed great loyalty and compassion. "Such a young human." He commented. The golden armored digimon then extended his right hand until it was in front of the two. It was obvious in the eyes of the chosen pair that they were a bit scared by the size of the knights. "My name is Magnamon. It is a pleasure to meet you." Tsubasa gripped a finger and shook it nervously.

A voice scoffed out from the corner. Everyone looked towards a pink and gold armored digimon leaning against the wall. The digimon looked slender with a huge gold shield like tool on his right arm and golden extensions sticking out of his body. "I cannot believe I was summoned here just to see a human brat." The digimon said snobbishly. He stood up straight and then started walking towards another hallway. "Unless you have any other business with me, I will be going now." With that, the pink knight was gone.

Another voice made a sound like he was clearing his throat. To the right of the group, there stood a white and red digimon that was the closest resemblance to a knight in the books. He had a strange symbol on his chest and an equally strange red ornament on his helm which looked like a dragon headband. He wore a red shoulder, knee armors and a red cape. The digimon bowed gently. "Forgive him for his attitude, Rhodoknightmon can be difficult sometimes but he is very dependable." The white and red knight stood up straight. "Let me introduce myself. I am known as Gallantmon."

Another white knight came forward. This one had a dragon head shaped left hand and a wolf head shaped right hand. The cape he wore was white and red. "Omnimon, the acting leader of the Royal Knights in Lord Alphamon's stead." The combination digimon stated flatly.

A tapping sound came from a brown and white digimon as he tapped his blades tip on the ground. This digimon had a slender from compared to the others, except Rhodoknightmon, had a feline head shaped helm, white wings on his back and a long red cloth tied around his midsection. "I go by the name Leopardmon, head tactician for the Royal Knights." Leopardmon said proudly.

A large purple digimon stood up from the stone he was sitting on the side of the room. He stared at the digidestined and crossed his arms across his chest. "I am Craniamon." Said the purple digimon in a deep but somewhat scratchy voice.

Two more knights stepped forward. One digimon wore a purple robe with a hood covering the head of the digimon. For the face, it was only a black area where his head is with two glowing yellow eyes. This knight floated with no signs of his feet and hands. However, beside him stood a long staff with a huge blue crystal on top. "My name is Merlinmon." The knight said silently.

The last knight was also slender but a bit bigger than Rhodoknightmon and Leopardmon. This one wore light blue armor that had patterns that looked like scales. On his shoulders, ankles and top of his helm, fins were attached. His light blue helm was closed with fins coming out of the sides. He held a spear that had a very sharp point on the end. He bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you. I am Xiphiamon." He said gently.

"Wow, you're all really big." Tsubasa commented.

"It makes for protecting the DigiWorld easier." Xiphiamon chuckled. "However, do not let our size fool you. Despite our size, we are extremely fast, especially UlforceVeedramon."

Fanbeemon raised his right claw. "If you don't mind me asking, is there something special with Leopardmon, Xiphiamon and Merlinmon?" The rookie digimon asked. "Of all humanoid knights, you three have odd characteristics like your names and forms."

"I am a wizard digimon." Merlinmon answered matter-of-factly.

Leopardmon and Xiphiamon started to glow. "Leopardmon, mode change!""Xiphiamon, node change…" The two knights said simultaneously before the light on their bodies become too bright for the others to see. When the light vanished and everyone opened their eyes, there stood a brown feline digimon with red eyes and white wings. The cat had a long tail with a yellow sphere on the tip. Beside him was a levitating light blue swordfish digimon with a visor for eyes. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa stared awestruck.

The feline digimon sat down on its hind legs. "Xiphiamon and I have the ability to transform into a beast form." Leopardmon's voice came from the large cat.

"Only a handful of digimons possess the ability of changing forms without going through any kind of digivolution." Xiphiamon's voice then came from the swordfish.

A loud clapping then rang and everyone looked towards the source, which was Kentaurosmon. "Alright, everyone. Our guests here came to speak with Daimon Masaru. However, since he is away, these two will be staying here for a while. Please make them as comfortable as possible." The centaur digimon said sternly and all the other knights made sounds of agreement.

"I thought Omnimon was the leader." Tsubasa mused.

Kentaurosmon laughed. "He is but when it comes to human concerns, I overpower him so it is alright."

"You must be tired and/or hungry from your travels. Allow me to guide you to the dining hall." Gallantmon politely offered.

Tsubasa nodded and was about to follow the white and red knight when he remembered something. "Wait, what about Seadramon? He's got to go back to Surfimon but the Piranimons." Tsubasa panicked.

The seven knights looked at the four that came with the pair. Kentaurosmon, Dynasmon and UlforceVeedramon looked towards Examon for answers. "They came here on a Seadramon who was attacked by a school of Piranimons." Examon explained.

"Do not fret." Xiphiamon reassured. "I will take care of it. I will call on my soldiers and ask them to escort your friend back to his home. Now, go with Gallantmon."

"Everyone, dismissed." Omnimon ordered before everyone went on their separate ways with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon following Gallantmon to get some food.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who are reading this.

Please give your reviews.


	12. Gallantmon's Guide on the Royal Knights

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon followed Gallantmon of the Royal Knights through the winding halls of the World Tree. However, after a few minutes, considering the size of the headquarters, Gallantmon offered to carry the duo which the two accepted. The paths, walls and ceiling were made of rock, even though they were in the trunk of the World Tree. Glowing crystals were on attached to the walls to illuminate the path. The only part of the interior that showed any relation to the tree were roots and vines that has crept on the walls and ceiling. The vines and roots would occasionally glow and the light would go back and forth the roots and vines.

"What is that glow on the vines and roots?" Fanbeemon inquired.

Gallantmon looked to the vine on his right and saw a light that went though the vine's path. "Oh, that is data. The World Tree receives data from the whole DigiWorld." Gallantmon explained. "These data are used for surveillance to check if there are any crises or crimes that are occurring in those areas."

"Oh." Fanbeemon said as he continued scanning the hall while looking at the vines and roots when they send or receive another data packet.

Every so often, they would pass by a door or two; some doors were open some were closed. One of the rooms looked like a gym with various equipment spread out. Another showed a huge bathroom with a giant toilet. After seeing the door was open, Gallantmon quickly shut the door. The white and red knight was thankful that his helm hid the blush on his face but he was also sure that the digidestined pair knew that he was blushing as the two was staring at him.

A few doors down, they arrived at a gigantic room. The room had multiple tables and chairs on one side and three sofas on the other. The furniture was made out of metal and beside the tables were a couple of vending machines then a path towards what looked like a kitchen. Before the three new arrivals went to the kitchen, they saw Leopardmon sitting on one of the couches and they could faintly hear beeping from him.

"Wow, everything looks more normal than I imagined." Tsubasa commented while looking at the whole kitchen. There was a sink and an oven, multiple cupboards and a giant refrigerator. The kitchen's counter and closets were made of the some stone that makes up the walls floor and ceiling. The sink had some plates and cups in it. The knight carefully deposited Tsubasa and Fanbeemon on the countertop.

Gallantmon laughed heartily before opening the refrigerator. "We may be powerful digimons but digimons nonetheless." He then took out a large piece of meat and something from the cupboard. "We are no different from the rest of the DigiWorld." With one hand holding the meat, Gallantmon offered to carry the duo with his other hand. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon saw something on the hand they were supposed to ride on and after getting on; they saw that the item was a bottle of DigiHoney, a small knife and fork with a loaf of bread. The three items were normal sized, dwarfed by the knight's large hand. "The furniture and appliances, however, were ideas from Daimon and his digimon friends. They said it would make the World Tree feel homier." Gallantmon proceeded to walk towards one of the tables.

"Even how the Royal Knights act seems to be affected by their stay." Fanbeemon remarked with a smile. This statement earned a confused look from their knight companion which the bee took as a hint to explain himself. "Well you see, based on the writings about your group, all of them described you as stoic characters. They say that you are emotionless who just fight and patrol all over the DigiWorld."

"Is that so?" Gallantmon introspected. "I am not actually sure myself. We did not interact with other digimons as much as we wanted because King Drasil had plenty of work for us all the time." The white and red knight thought to himself for a bit before having a look of brilliance. "If you really want to prove or disprove that information, you could always talk to each of our armies."

"Y-You have your own army?" Tsubasa asked surprisingly.

Gallantmon nodded. "Each Royal Knight, except Lord Alphamon, has their own army and their own base camp." The knight stated calmly.

The digidestined looked at each other and both grinned. "That's the leader for you. No more need for an army when you have great skill and strength." Fanbeemon chimed.

"That's probably true." Gallantmon said while gesturing to his companions to take their share of the food. The duo instantly started cutting pieces of meat and making sandwiches out of the cut-outs, honey and bread. The two sat on the table surface. "Besides, he did not really want to create his own army seeing as that he is not present all the time. However, if Lord Imperialdramon the White was still here, Lord Alphamon might have reconsidered."

Tsubasa took a bite at his meat sandwich. "Who'sh Imfirialdamon ba whaish?" The human talked while his mouth was still full.

After swallowing another part of his honey sandwich and interpreting what his partner said, he replied. "Imperialdramon the White is a paladin and is the founder of the Royal Knights. Legend has it that he chose the thirteen strongest warrior digimons who became the Royal Knights." Tsubasa and Fanbeemon heard Gallantmon hum in agreement.

"Lord Imperialdramon is very strong and wise. After he brought us together, he trained us for a while before setting out." Gallantmon told. In the last sentence, he looked upwards to the ceiling. "He told us that we were strong enough as it was and we did not need him anymore." The white and red knight heard Leopardmon pause his game momentarily, knowing that the other knight also misses their former master. "Rumor has it that he is outside our planet and is now the guardian of the three moons of the DigiWorld."

"Then how did you come to work under King Drasil?" Fanbeemon asked curiously.

"One day, King Drasil appeared and sown the seed that would eventually become the World Tree." The knight started. "At first, we thought he was an invader and was ready for battle. King Drasil then spoke to us. "He told us that he meant no harm and that he came to bring great change that would benefit all digimon kind."

"We were uncertain at first but one time after another, King Drasil showed benevolent actions upon all the digimons." Gallantmon stopped, took a bite out of his share of the meat then resumed after swallowing. "During a drought that ravaged the plains for months, King Drasil said that he would make it rain shortly and true to his word, it did rain for two days, rejuvenating the plants, earth and water supply. He made a few more miracles and having seen no reason to intervene with his actions, we submitted ourselves to him and vowed to carry on his orders for the brighter future of the DigiWorld."

Tsubasa finished another sandwich and was reaching out for one more. "So what happened to King Drasil now?"

"Five years ago, the DigiWorld and Human World were supposed to collide with each other and King Drasil commanded that we annihilate the Human World so that the DigiWorld would survive." Gallantmon explained while standing up and moving towards the vending machines. "Not all of us agreed with that plan but we had no choice because we were bound by honor to not comply with King Drasil's word. It was only through Kentaurosmon and Daimon's group's words that we took the courage to stand up against King Drasil. Kentaurosmon was the partner of the acting leader of DATS, Captain Satsuma Rentarou." Gallantmon returned with three cans of juice, two are smaller than the other. The trio drank their juice silently, while contemplating about the details they discussed.

Tsubasa was the first to finish and place the can on the table. He then faced Gallantmon once more. "Do you ever talk to Alphamon?"

The knight shook his head. "Lord Alphamon told us that he was working on a project and he would like it to have the least number of interruptions as possible." Gallantmon took a last swig of his drink before setting his can down. "Well, I think that is about it. If you have any other question, feel free to approach any of us here. Right now, I think you need to rest."

Fanbeemon then finished his drink. "If you don't mind, we'd like to take a look around." The bee digimon said.

"It'll be nice to try to get to know you guys." Tsubasa stated excitedly.

Gallantmon thought for a second then nodded. "Alright but I'll have to assign a bodyguard for you." The knight whistled then a levitating crystal obelisk appeared before them. "Please go with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon here around the base."

"Thank you, Gallantmon. For the food and the nice conversation." Fanbeemon spoke to the knight while he and his partner stood up and bowed.

"It was nothing." Gallantmon chuckled. He laid his hand on the table so the duo could get on and be deposited on the ground. The knight waved at them as Tsubasa, Fanbeemon and their guard walked off to the other side of the room.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Royal Base, two voices converse over a dark plot. "How long will it take for the human to come back?" A demonic voice roared.

"We are still not sure." A feminine voice replied. "I am sure that the boy and his partner have not suspected anything with our plan." The female then got an idea. "Do not worry, master. I will call upon the others to help so as to recover the delay we have taken."

"Very well, underling. Continue. I shall await your report." With that the two voices disappeared.

* * *

This chapter is a bit shorter than the others.

The next chapters will show Tsubasa and Fanbeemon interacting with the Royal Knights.

Thank you for reading.


	13. Tacics on Friendship

Sorry if I don't seem to be consistent for this chapter in terms of manner of writing. This project has been greatly delayed due to academic activities and work. Aside from this, I have other stories that I want to write but are hindered as well. For those still reading this, thank you.

Here is the next chapter. Please review after reading. Your opinions are very much appreciated.

* * *

Leopardmon sat on one of the couches in the recreation room of the World Tree. The feline knight leaned back, making the red cushion of the couch squeak at his movement. In his hand was a device that kept beeping, when he pushes a button, and was playing subtle music. Leopardmon was focused on the device in his hands that he didn't notice the two small figures approaching him.

"Hey! Leopardmon!" A screechy voice shouted.

The brown knight jumped slightly and looked around to find the source of the voice. He saw no one except Gallantmon who was leaving the room. Having seen no one, he went back to his activity until the voice came again.

"Leopardmon, down here!" The same voice yelled even louder.

Leopardmon looked towards his right foot and he instantly looked embarrassed when he saw Tsubasa waving at him while Fanbeemon was glaring at him. Behind the two was an obelisk that Gallantmon assigned as their bodyguard around the World Tree. The knight took his right hand and settled it down on the ground, palm up. The digidestined climbed aboard and they were lifted towards the back rest of the couch, near Leopardmon's left shoulder. The obelisk flew towards the digidestined and just hovered beside them. After the two got off and sat comfortably, Leopardmon went back to the device on his hand.

Tsubasa looked at the device in Leopardmon's hand; the knight was nice enough to hold the device in a way that his two new companions can see what was on the screen. The device was of rectangular shape with rounded edges. A small screen was on the middle with two rectangular buttons on the bottom. To the left of the screen, there were four triangular buttons that were pointing up, down, left and right; the buttons were positioned in a cross. To the right of the screen, there were four circular buttons that were positioned the same as the triangular ones. By the upper left and upper right corners of the screen, there were square grids were the sound was coming from them. On the upper left and the upper right corners of the device, there was a button as well. The device, as a whole, was colored midnight blue while the buttons were colored black. The screen was showing a 3D grid with a forest back ground. Some of the cells were occupied by some digimon icons. As Leopardmon were pushing some buttons, some of the icons were moving. It didn't take long for Tsubasa to realize it was a video game.

The screen showed 3D grid where the digimon pieces stood and an upside down pyramid floated above a square. The pyramid moved whenever Leopardmon pressed a button on the directional button area. The background was showing a desolate desert. A royal blue space filled the bottom of the screen. Whenever the cursor moves across a unit, the blue space is filled with text and pictures. The text included the name of the unit, numerical value of Hit Points, Skill Points, Terrain bonuses and unit level. The pictures included the face picture of the digimon, meters for the Hit Points and Skill Points, and a picture of the ground where the unit stood. On the upper right corner of the screen, there was a compass and the needle was pointing north.

"I didn't know there were video games in the DigiWorld." Tsubasa said, staring with wonder at the device.

Fanbeemon shrugged. "There are a lot of things in the DigiWorld that could really surprise a human. One of them is the irony of some things."

"What's the game about, Leopardmon?" The boy asked innocently.

The feline knight replied without glancing to the human. "It is a turn-based strategy game about us, Royal Knights and some of the past chosen ones. Daimon found this during one of his excursions in Toy Town and he figured that this would be a good present for me on the occasion called Christmas." Leopardmon pushed a few buttons and an icon of a WarGreymon moved and attacked a Sukamon icon.

Fanbeemon laughed nervously. "I didn't think you were into games like that."

It was Leopardmon's turn to shrug. "I am not but I must admit, it somewhat exercises my strategy skills." The feline knight explained flatly.

"Then you should ask Daimon to look for the next games or similar ones, at least." Tsubasa chimed.

Leopardmon suddenly paused his game, closed his eyes and had a look of contemplation, or at least, that's what the digidestined figured without seeing the knight's face underneath the helm. He then looked towards the duo by his shoulder. "I will consider that suggestion. Thank you." The feline then looked back at his game and resumed playing.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon went quite for minutes, satisfied enough to just watch Leopardmon finish the stage he was in. Nothing happened among the trio until Leopardmon's pace on the game became slower and the knight was taking more time in thinking what to do. After a few more minutes, the knight just stopped and was staring at the screen.

Everything was silent; only the music from the gaming device and the silent humming of the crystal obelisk that was with the digidestined could be heard. That was until Tsubasa spoke. "Why not move Dynasmon two spaces forward, move Seraphimon to Paildramon and heal him, then move Paildramon three spaces to the right then attack Okuwamon?"

Leopardmon looked shockingly at Tsubasa. He also noticed that Fanbeemon was staring at the boy with the same expression he had. Tsubasa, in return, looked at the two questioningly. "What? That's reasonable, isn't it?" The human asked nervously.

Leopardmon looked at the screen of the gaming device and studied what Tsubasa wanted him to do. 'If Dynasmon moves, he goes into a forest which will increase his evasion substantially.' Leopardmon thought. 'Dynasmon would be able to protect Seraphimon while he heals Paildramon then Paildramon could use his Desperado Blaster on Okuwamon.'

When Leopardmon selected to start the battle with Paildramon and Okuwamon, the music changed from its military sounding beat music to an instrumental version of "Target ~Akai Shougeki~". The picture depixelated, faded to black then showed Paildramon in his fighting stance, standing on the desert. Above him, there were meters for his Hit Points and Skill Points.

"You guys are just wasting your time here!" Paildramon's dual voice said. The screen split into two equal horizontal areas. The one on the bottom showed Paildramon's eyes. On the top, it showed Daisuke and Ken holding there digivices.

"Jump up about 96 feet, face 6 o'clock, and aim 54 degrees downwards." Ken's voiced.

"Paildramon, blow that guy into bits!" Daisuke ordered.

Paildramon jumped up, faced to his right and aimed his guns towards the Okauwamon. "Locked and loaded! DESPERADO BLASTER!" The ultimate dragon man digimon bellowed. Multiple rounds were shot from the guns on Paildramon's hips and they bombarded the giant gray insect miles ahead of him. Okuwamon screeched in pain before dissolving into bits.

After doing what the human said and ending his turn, all of Leopardmon's characters were alive and did not receive any damage during the opponent's turn.

The succeeding turns was a breeze to the tactician. Shortly after, the main enemy, a SkullBaluchimon, appeared on the top edge of the map. The game stopped then faded to black. Game came back on with a video showing Dynasmon, WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, Paildramon, and Seraphimon standing on the desert dunes while facing a grinning Skull Baluchimon.

"So, you finally shown yourself, bastard!" MetalGarurumon shouted. There were subtitles written in digialphabets on the bottom of the screen.

Tsubasa jumped at the sound of the mega digimon's voice. "Wow, voice acting! Cool!" The boy voiced.

The undead digimon roared loudly with his skeletal wings opened wide. "I am SkullBaluchimon, master of the Fragment Desert." SkullBaluchimon stated.

Paildramon waved his hand mockingly. "Yeah, yeah, we know exactly who you are." Paildramon's cocky voice said. "You're the one responsible for the disappearance of several champion digimons in the vicinity."

Seraphimon stepped forward, hands clenched. "What have you done with the locals?" The mega angel digimon's voice held gentleness with a little bit of worry and anger. "Release them at once!"

The ultimate undead digimon turned his head in confusion about three times before settling. "And what makes you think I still have those pathetic data packets?" The ultimate digimon laughed.

WarGreymon twisted his Dramon Busters to be more comfortable then pointed it threateningly at the enemy. "Alright then. Where are they?" The Dragon man digimon asked.

"Some of them were taken away while some are lingering around this desert." The ultimate undead digimon informed with a malicious grin.

"Impossible!" Dynasmon rebutted. "We checked the area thoroughly and there's no life in these parts."

SkullBaluchimon cackled madly which sent chills down the allied digimon group members. "Who said that they were still alive?" The undead digimon's eyes glowed blood red and then multiple orbs appeared floating about the desert. Each orb that passed by released a voice that was pleading for escape. "I only told you they were here but not alive anymore. Lord GranDracmon chose only certain digimons and left the others here for my… personal entertainment." SkullBaluchimon dug his tail into the ground then raised it up with a Centarumon helm on the tip. "They were not as hard to hunt down in the desert. They pleaded that I spare their lives but where would be the fun in that? The thrill of killing them and taking their digicode as my own is more satisfying to the soul." MetalGarurumon started to growl warningly. "They tried to resist but the results are all the same. Their screams of pain were music to my ears. Once their dead, their souls would never escape from this desert as long as I'm around."

"We'll be the ones to set them free." Dynasmon voiced.

"Let us see you try!" The undead digimon roared. "Come my minions!" Multiple Bakemons, Phantomons and NeoDevimons appeared beside the SkullBaluchimon. A black mist appeared around the leader and all of the cacti in the area started to die upon contact with the smoke.

The camera shifted once again back into the grid screen showing the pieces. Leopardmon started moving his pieces and watching as the enemy units move afterwards. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa watched silent until one point when the knight digimon was about to move WarGreymon next to a NeoDevimon that was in SkullBaluchimon's proximity.

"Wait!" Leopardmon and Fanbeemon jumped at Tsubasa's cry. The two digimons quickly looked towards the boy. "I'm not sure about that. I'm a bit worried about the smoke around SkullBaluchimon."

Suddenly, Tsubasa's digivice started beeping loudly. The tamer took it out and it showed details on SkullBaluchimon. The boy read it for the benefit of his companions.

SkullBaluchimon-Ultimate Undead Digimon-Data Type-A giant Digimon reproduced from the data of several counterfeit fossils, which were in the data of a fossil of what was thought to be the largest land mammal. It has no emotions or intelligence, and because its body operates by reflex with only the data of the nerves laid out within its body, it keeps mercilessly attacking until it can no longer move. It is said that it will plunge any Digimon into the terror of death, either from the curse which forcibly revived it from the data of its corpse, or the cold black vapors which flow unceasingly from its DigiCore. Beware of its horrifying Deadly Fear attack.

"So that means there is the possibility of your units gradually dying if they get too near SkullBaluchimon." Fanbeemon explained.

"What does Deadly Fear do?" Leopardmon asked. All he got for an answer was a shrug. Leopardmon continued playing while avoiding going near SkullBaluchimon. At one point, the ultimate undead digimon came near Dynasmon and the knight received damage without being attacked. Leopardmon took that as the effect of the mist after studying the aura emitted by SkullBaluchimon on the field.

When all of the minions were deleted, Leopardmon brought his attention to the boss in the field. The feline knight attacked at a considerable range. Even when SkullBaluchimon comes near, being trampled by the Grave Bone attack did not cause much damage. However…

"This desert will be your graveyard…" SkullBaluchimon mumbled. He then roared, releasing large amounts of the black fog towards MetalGarurumon. Being a Mega digimon, attacks from Ultimates shouldn't bother much but the Mega canine couldn't seem to get out of the fog and the gas was starting to eat at his Hit Points. MetalGarurumon tried his best to run out of the mist but every time his path was blocked by SkullBaluchimon, exhaling more of the black air. After running around about 5 times, the smoke dissipated, leaving MetalGarurumon standing with a third of his HP gone.

"That's one heck of an attack for an ultimate." Fanbeemon gasped.

"And being near SkullBaluchimon is not helping." Leopardmon stated seriously.

Tsubasa looked over the whole battlefield to check for any loop holes for defeating the rogue undead digimon. "Try protecting MetalGarurumon with WarGreymon while the two of them move back a little. When they're far away, let MetalGarurumon regenerate. In case of emergency, combine MetalGarurumon with Wargreymon to form Omnimon. Paildramon and Seraphimon attacks from far away and when needed, Seraphimon heals." The human boy spoke.

Leopardmon did as Tsubasa told. Surprisingly, SkullBaluchimon went after Seraphimon while MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon retreated. It took 2 turns for the undead to catch up with the Mega angel digimon. Being of opposing elements, the two dealt huge damage against each other but with Seraphimon received a regeneration bonus and defense bonus under Takeru's guidance. As Seraphimon took the bulk of the attacks, Paildramon attacked from a considerable distance. After three turns of battle, SkullBaluchimon still has half of his life, Seraphimon is barely keeping up with the amount of damage and MetalGarurumon still has a quarter of his life to regenerate.

Seeing his unit being in danger, Leopardmon invoked DNA Digivolution of the two megas, forming Omnimon. The white knight charged towards SkullBaluchimon with his Transcendent Sword, ready to strike while Leopardmon pulled Seraphimon back to heal. Paildramon kept shooting from a distance. With the combined abilities of MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, Omnimon's HP is much higher which will take a longer time to empty even with the fog and attacks. Having a couple of rounds going by and healing, Seraphimon joined in on the fray and easily defeated the menacing digimon.

Upon the enemy's defeat, the souls of the fallen digimons were released and scattered around the world, searching for their digi-eggs for rebirth. At the end of the stage, the other chosen children and their digimons arrived to check on their comrades. After that, Leopardmon was faced with a post-mission customization screen where he saved his game.

With a sigh of relief, Leopardmon lowered the device unto his lap while it was in what looked like a menu. The brown knight raised his left hand and rubbed his right shoulder with it. He then looked to Tsubasa questioningly. "I am impressed. How did you know what to do?"

Tsubasa shrugged. "Besides RPG games, I've been also playing turn-based strategy games back at home." The boy said blandly. "It's sort of my forte."

"Really?" The two digimons asked simultaneously but Leopardmon's voice seemed to have a touch of excitement. 'Finally, someone who enjoys formulating strategies as I do.' The knight thought gleefully.

Tsubasa instantly looked sheepish at the happy look the knight was giving him. "Yeah. I've been playing them for more than a year now and so far I've only gotten a few "game over"s on each title." The human stated shyly.

"I see." Leopardmon chuckled. "Do not get me wrong. I like making strategies and formations but it doesn't mean I like to fight. I simply formulate just to be ready for any unwanted scenarios in the future." The knight explained. "Also, it helps to calm my mind."

Leopardmon continued his game with the two smaller forms watching from his shoulder. The knight's pieces moved, attacked and used skills as the knight pushed the buttons on the device. Every once in a while, he would hold the device up and show the field arrangement to the human boy to ask for help or approval of movement. In response, Tsubasa would nod or give comments and suggestions. Fanbeemon just sat there, contented enough to watch the interaction between the giant digimon and the small boy over a game.

After passing a few stages, Leopardmon saved his game and turned it off. He then stood up and stretched with his hands raised up high into the air; his back let out a soft pop as he did. The knight then turned to the three on the back of the chair, two of which were also stretching. Leopardmon held the game with his left hand while he moved his right hand towards the trio as a platform. Once aboard, the knight pulled his hand slowly to his chest and started to towards the door. "Thank you. You were a big help." Leopardmon said looking down towards his passengers while passing the door. The knight's eyes showed great fondness.

Tsubasa smiled up at the giant. "You're welcome! I'm glad I was able to help."

"Isn't it a bit unrealistic? I mean, battles aren't really fought like that so how will that help in training?" Fanbeemon asked to no one in particular.

The knight shrugged. "Well, think of it as chess. A more complex version of chess." Leopardmon stated matter-of-factly. "We learn how to read the movements of our enemies, evaluation of situation and predict the enemy's moves to counter them." He then looked towards Tsubasa. "It is a shame you are not a soldier, Tsubasa. You would make for a great strategist someday."

"I don't like war." Tsubasa mumbled.

"A-And we're not saying we want you to participate right, Leopardmon?" Fanbeemon gave the knight a "take that comment back or I sting you in the eye" look.

Leopardmon flinched a little from the bee's stare then nodded quickly. "Y-Yes… W-What I meant to say was, uhhh…" The feline digimon struggled to think of something to cover up what he said. It was interrupted when the human child spoke once more.

"It's okay." Tsubasa said as he shook his head. "What are the chances of me joining a war anyway? Besides, I'm sure there might be some other uses for knowledge like that."

"Probably." Fanbeemon shrugged.

As the trio were walking through the halls of the World Tree, they came upon a fork: one path went straight ahead while one turned to the right. Before they could go towards the path ahead of them, they were stopped by the sound of footsteps coming from the path on the right. They looked towards the fairly lit hall to the right and saw RhodoKnightmon calmly walking towards them. The three greeted the pink knight but only got a grunt in response before the latter continued on his way. Tsubasa was sure that RhodoKnightmon can feel Fanbeemon glaring at him.

Tsubasa looked up towards Leopardmon. "Hey, can you take us to where he's going?" The boy pointed towards a disappearing RhodoKnightmon.

The feline knight and the rookie bee looked curiously at the boy. "Why would you want to follow him?" Leopardmon asked. Behind Tsubasa, Fanbeemon nodded slowly.

"I just want to try and talk to him." Tsubasa mumbled but could still be heard by the two digimons. "If he won't talk to me, at least I just want to observe him for once before we leave."

Leopardmon stared at the human then towards his partner, who hesitantly nodded. "Fine." The knight sighed. "However, I would be more comfortable if I were with during that time. RhodoKnightmon can be harsh at times." With that, the trio followed the pink knight down the hall.


	14. Third time's the Charm

Leopardmon followed the hallway he was on while carrying a human, a rookie digimon and a crystal sentry. The group was searching through the rooms they pass for a certain pink knight digimon with a rough attitude. So far, there has been no luck on locating their target.

"This is the problem with RhodoKnightmon." Leopardmon sighed. "He is the hardest one to find out of all of us, Royal Knights. Looking for an invisible Bakemon is easier." Fanbeemon chuckled lightly while his partner was confused. After explaining the identity of Bakemon, Tsubasa joined in the laugh. Leopardmon looked down sadly at his companions. "I would like to apologize for my comrade's personality."

The rookie digimon snorted. "You don't have to apologize for him."

"Still…" The feline knight digimon drawled.

"Is RhodoKnightmon always that cranky?" Tsubasa asked and looked towards the brown knight innocently.

"He is rather cold even to us." Leopardmon stated still sounding like he's down. "However, he is most intolerable when humans are around." Leopardmon opened one more door, showing a storage room. He then closed it after seeing that RhodoKnightmon was not there and went on further down the hall. "He has been like that ever since he was reborn the first time."

Tsubasa blinked. "Reborn?"

Fanbeemon scratched his head with his right claw at the somewhat grim topic. "You see, digimons who are killed in battle reverts back to their egg forms." The insectoid digimon crossed his claws over his thorax and closed his eyes. "After some time, the eggs hatch and the digimon inside is the dead digimon reborn. Some digimon lose their memories when they are reborn but there are those who retain their memories." Fanbeemon stated sadly. This brought sorrow to his partner. He then looked up at Leopardmon. "If I remember correctly, RhodoKnightmon fought against Mirage Gaogamon in Earth right?" All he got was a nod.

Tsubasa then looked confused at the knight. "Wait, you said 'reborn the first time'. How many times was he brought back?"

"Twice." The feline knight said flatly. "The second time was with MirageGaogamon. The first time… It was a very long time ago." He stopped walking at the end of the hall where a door stood. From beyond the door, sound of metal hitting metal could be heard. "A few hundred years ago, just after the Royal Knights were formed, RhodoKnightmon and Dynasmon served under the Great Demon Lord Lucemon. He, along with Dynasmon, was tasked to gather the land codes for the DigiWorld to unseal Lucemon." Leopardmon told.

"Great Demon Lord?" The human asked.

Fanbeemon explained once more. "The Great Demon Lords were seven evil digimons who represented the seven sins of the human world… Or so that is what the legend says."

Leopardmon growled. "Believe me, it is most certainly not a legend." The trio then heard the distinct voice of RhodoKnightmon grunting beyond the door. "Back to the story, the other knights and I were back in our hometowns, protecting the surviving digimons. The ones who fought Lucimon, Dynasmon and RhodoKnightmon were a group of humans who were granted the power of the Ancient Ten."

Sensing that his partner was about to ask something again, Fanbeemon went ahead of his partner. "The Ancient Ten were ten digimons who were considered the guardians of the ten elemental codes: Code of Fire, Ice, Wind, Thunder, Light, Dark, Steel, Wood, Water and Earth. The ten of them were the ones who sealed Lucemon." The human then looked contemplative and nodding seeming understand everything now.

"Anything else to ask?" Leopardmon inquired. Tsubasa just shook his head while staring at the door.

With that, Leopardmon stepped forward and the door split in the middle horizontally revealing a large rock dome with large crystals protruding on the sides and ceiling. Mostly the area was a huge empty space. On the left side of the dome, the crystals there shone brightly and the trio could see RhodoKnightmon fighting a pack of Cerberumon.

The Cerberumons outnumbered the Royal Knight thirty to one. As dire as the situation may seem RhodoKnightmon stood straight and calm; his pink armor showed no signs of scratches from any attack even though the knight has been training for a while. Several Cerberumons pounced on the pink knight with their claws raised and fangs showing but the only thing they touched were the floor. The attacking canine digimons ended up in a dog pile while the others looked around for their target.

As they frantically scanned their immediate area, the pack suddenly heard one of their companions cry out in pain. They looked towards the source of the sound and saw one of them disappear and RhodoKnightmon stood in its place, his ribbon extended from his arm in a manner of how a sword would appear. Ten Cerberumons charged at the knight, who just stood unfazed. Once the ultimate digimons passed, the field went silent as the team and the knight were facing away from each other. The rest of the occupants of the field watched with interest on who is the victor.

It started from one but it all snowballed as the offensive group members fell one after the other and disappeared without a trace. "I thought you said that digimons who lost in battle would go back to being eggs." Tsubasa spoke sadly towards his partner.

Leopardmon chuckled earning him a questioning stare from the two sentient beings on his hand. "Do not fret. They are merely illusions." The brown knight explained. He then pointed towards a crystal to his left. "The crystals in this room are not solely used for illumination. The crystals here have the ability to form solid hallucinations of digimons in our database." As if to prove the information on the crystals, RhodoKnightmon snapped his fingers. The crystals near him glowed brighter and more Cerberumons appeared around him.

The black canine digimons tried their attack pattern earlier and tried pouncing at the knight. "Now I believe RhodoKnightmon is about to demonstrate one of his attacks." Leopardmon informed his companions who watched with great curiosity.

RhodoKnightmon got down on one knee and the ribbons on his body started to wave. "Spiral Masquerade!" The ribbons around his body stretched out move around him swiftly; the ribbons could only be seen as blurs. Once a target got near the knight, he is cut to pieces by the ribbons. With the attacking force destroyed, the ribbons stopped, went back to their original lengths and RhodoKnightmon stood up.

He inspected his immediate area and found that there is only one Cerberumon left. The two stared at each other silently. "Why doesn't RhodoKnightmon attack?" Fanbeemon wondered.

"RhodoKnightmon's fighting style is… more pacifistic yet sadistic." Leopardmon sighed. "Pacifistic in a way that, when up against weaker opponent by his standard, he is more defensive." The feline knight's shoulders slumped. "He is sadistic in a way that, once he finds an opening, he mercilessly counters until the enemy is no more."

The Cerberumon let out a loud, piercing howl making the observing digidestined to cover their ears; the knights didn't even flinch from the sound. Beneath the pink knight, crimson pentagram with digialphabets appeared. As quickly as it appeared, it vanished and was replaced by a swirling black vortex. RhodoKnightmon started sinking into the hole. Having done with the demon dog's howl, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon took the cover of their ears off and were now hearing ominous screams and howls from the vortex that was swallowing RhodoKnightmon. "What is that scary sound?" Tsubasa asked fearfully.

The digidestined could have sworn they felt Leopardmon shiver a little. "That is called Inferno Gate: Cerberumon's ability that opens to the Dark Area, the Hell for us Digimons. Within that area, lies the most foul of digimons that have ever lived."

"Will he be alright?" The rookie digimon inquired a bit worriedly.

Leopardmon shrugged. "We cannot really say. These digimons are digital clones but the crystals' powers give the clones' attacks to be felt. If one is not careful, you might just be dragged into the Dark Area. However…" The brown knight then looked towards his sinking comrade. "Knowing, RhodoKnightmon, he will be fine."

As he sank, RhodoKnightmon didn't move a muscle. By now, his shoulder was by the floor level. The Cerberumon smiled wickedly as he watched his target's head slowly disappeared to the black abyss. After a minute, the pink Royal Knight disappeared along with the portal. Satisfied with his work, the Cerberumon howled loudly. The digidestined looking at the demon dog with fear and concern escalating within them.

Leopardmon snorted, making his two passengers stare at him questioningly. "I'm afraid it's not over yet." He then gestured to the field. "Do you notice something odd?"

The two looked around the room and Fanbeemon saw something at the floor that took him by surprise. "The pentagram… It's not vanishing."

Leopardmon nodded. "That means something is stuck between the Dark Area and this plane."

As if to prove his point, the ground shook in pulses, as if something was banging on it with incredible force. The Cerberumon took on its fighting stance once more and started growling at the pentagram. Just then, a golden fist broke through the floor where the pentagram is drawn and from the break, the portal can be seen. From the portal, RhodoKnightmon jumped up gracefully and levitated above it. The vortex disappeared and the floor looked as if nothing happened.

Upon seeing his target surviving his strongest attack, Cerberumon inhaled deeply then let loose a torrent of green flame. RhodoKnightmon quickly drew a rose and threw it upward. "Scarlet Tempest…" The flower exploded into a shower of petals around the pink knight. The flames were then being pushed to the sides by a barrier created by the petals. RhodoKnightmon walked slowly towards the canine digimon as the flames are continuously burning and being deflected.

On Cerberumon's side, he was starting to walk backwards, trying to put some distance between him and his assailant. He wasn't succeeding because the exalted knight still walks towards him and he was running out of room. If he turns a little, it will weaken the flames and it will be easier for RhodoKnightmon to move forward. It didn't take long before the hell dog hit the wall and RhodoKnightmon to really start getting closer.

The pink knight raised his right arm slightly, showing the Pile Bunker to his opponent. The major part of the weapon moved forward, clicking into place. On an act of desperation, Cerberumon jumped forward to tackle the knight but in the end he knew it wouldn't faze the other. "Urgent Fear…" RhodoKnightmon quickly crouched then rose, delivering an uppercut with his right arm. The Pile Bunker collided with Cerberumon's belly. A single energy pulse was released from the arm and Cerberumon disintegrated into nothing, leaving the knight standing in the middle of the field with his right arm raised. RhodoKnightmon lowered his arm and slightly jumped when he heard clapping behind him.

RhodoKnightmon turned around and saw Leopardmon walking towards him; on the feline knight's shoulder was a levitating crystal and on his hand were two small life forms. "Why did you bring these two here?" He growled at his comrade.

"Now, RhodoKnightmon, I know that you are rather against going near humans," Leopardmon started. "But you cannot keep avoiding forever. We certainly cannot have you getting into an argument with Masaru every time you two cross paths."

Fanbeemon looked at their carrier. "He gets into fights with Masaru?"

"More than you know." Leopardmon sighed. "RhodoKnightmon does not stay for long but when he and Masaru see each other, it is rather difficult to break up the two." The brown knight stopped his explanation as he could feel the silent anger growing stronger. "Please, try to be reasonable just for once."

RhodoKnightmon looked down at the human and the rookie digimon. The boy looked at him fearfully while the bee was glaring at him. "You want me to talk to you? Alright." He then bent down and moved his helm closer to the boy. "If you know what is best for you, then leave this place now and take that pest, Masaru, with you." RhodoKnightmon stood up, walked past Leopardmon calmly and headed for the door.

The latter took in a deep breath then turned around, glaring at the other. "How could you be so stubborn for so long?" Leopardmon's friendly voice turning sharp.

The pink knight stopped midstep. He then slightly turned his head to look towards his comrade. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" The brown knight shouted. "How long will you keep this grudge against the humans? All of us here have moved on except you!"

The other knight turned around to face feline mimic. "May I remind you that they have been the cause of numerous catastrophes in our world?"

"Yes, and every time it is humans who saved our world from both human and digimon caused tragedies!" Leopardmon shouted with a menacing step forward. "You have to learn that not all humans are evil!" Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked at RhodoKnightmon and saw his hands are balled into fists. "Can you not let go of the past?"

A moment of silence passed and the pressure around the room was getting thinker. Tsubasa spoke up to try to ease the tension. "RhodoKnightmon, sir. I know what happened before and it's nothing really to be feel bad about." The boy's two companions thought for a bit and realized where the former was going and were now giving signs to stop. "Losing to human partnered digimons doesn't mean it's the end of the world."

RhodoKnightmon turned around sharply and created a sword with the ribbon on his right arm. He pointed the blade menacingly at the human. "You have no right to tell me what I should feel, vermin. You will never understand the pain I feel."

Leopardmon took out his sword and raised it towards his friend. "RhodoKnightmon, lower your weapon, now!"

The pink knight then looked to Leopardmon. "You… You went through a battle with the humans. How could you stand being with humans when you were defeated yourself?" RhodoKnightmon growled. Upon hearing RhodoKnightmon said, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked at Leopardmon both curiously and sorrowfully.

Leopardmon closed his eyes in frustration."Yes, I was defeated. I fought against two partnered digimons at once." He then opened his eyes and stared at his brother in arms. "I lost my memories after I was reborn and all I know are from what the other knights told me." The feline knight stated sadly. "However, I weighed the scenarios of losing and winning and found that the consequences of letting Yggdrasil do as he pleases would be more terrible than letting the humans win." He then looked the other knight over. "You of all people should know what would have been as you were summoned by one of the accursed once."

"The ideals of Lucemon and King Drasil were true and you know that." RhodoKnightmon voiced angrily; memories of his time with the Demon Lord and AI flooded his mind. "Rule by force and by one fierce leader will ensure the peace of the DigiWorld and the human world."

Leopardmon shook his head. "That goes against our principles, the very principles that Lord Imperialdramon left us."

"I don't like that idea."

All of the digimons looked at the human on Leopardmon's hand. The boy was fumbling the hem of his shirt shyly. "I think it's a bit stupid." Tsubasa said softly but audible enough for the three digimons to hear.

"Stupid? How dare-!" RhodoKnightmon warned but was interrupted by Leopardmon blocking him.

"Let him speak." The brown knight said sternly. "Maybe his words will sway you." He then looked towards Tsubasa. "Continue."

Tsubasa nodded hesitantly. "I don't want to live where everything is decided by one person. Everyone has some good ideas for making a world better. It would be okay if the person leading me was a nice guy but I don't want someone scary." The boy explained. "If someone scary was our leader, we really wouldn't want to do what he wants. We just do it so we won't get hurt."

"That is the point." RhodoKnightmon insisted. "You could force other people follow your orders no matter what."

Fanbeemon huffed. "So you don't care even if the people you were supposed to lead to a better life hate you to no end?"

RhodoKnightmon cursed under his breath from hearing that remark. He was expecting that but still the Royal Knight in him reacted, causing guilt. "It is a small price to pay… For peace." The pink knight whispered.

"Peaceful as it may be but it would be pointless if the people are miserable for other reasons." Leopardmon insisted.

Tsubasa nodded. "A leader should always keep everyone happy and safe. A leader should be nice and friendly to everyone around him. I've read about a lot of bad kings went into war and were killed by those he ruled." The human boy explained.

"That is because you humans are barbaric!" The pink knight growled.

Leopardmon shook his head and sighed. "Are we so different? There are numerous digimons in our world who would love nothing more than to rule our world." The feline knight stated sadly. "And you would know that they wouldn't stop with the DigiWorld. They will try to get to the Human World and destroy it. If they did that, then we would have the same with that human, Kurata, 5 years ago." Leopardmon knew instantly that he had hit something. RhodoKnightmon lowered his head and his hands were clenched. "True: Humans are not meant to be in the DigiWorld. However, we, digimons, are not meant to be in their world as well. Only those chosen by the Sovereigns should be the ones to crossover the dimensional wall."

Tsubasa has heard about the digimons who attacked his world. Most of them were dismissed as superstitions or mad rambling though. "We only wanted to protect our world just like you are protecting yours. So…" Tsubasa raised his right hand as if waiting for RhodoKnightmon to take and shake it. "How about we work together this time?"

Fanbeemon nodded, proud of his partner's action. "Knowing that Tsubasa was called here and partnered to a digimon, it would mean that something might happen in the future. We will need all the help we could get and that includes you."

"If you don't succeed twice, try changing your strategy." Leopardmon stated nonchalantly.

RhodoKnightmon stared at the trio in front of him. All three of them were grinning at him which is a strange sight for him. It was still new to him that the knights are showing more emotions than how they were before. 'It must be the effect of the humans. Very disturbing…' he thought He then focused at Tsubasa. He raised his index finger and was about to shake hands but instead, he gently pushed away the boy's hand. The pink knight then walked past them casually. All he said as a reply was a word he usually heard from Masaru when the DATS member was irritated. "…Whatever."

The three looked at the retreating knight until the latter was outside the room and the door was shut. A long silence was lingering across the training field and Fanbeemon broke it. "So… Was that a yes?"

Leopardmon shrugged. "Considering his personality, that would be a probably."

"That's a start." Tsubasa giggled.


	15. Room Raider: Digimon Style

Hey guys! I'm still alive! Sorry for not writing in a while. Had a lot of things to do in school specially with internship.

Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! Please read and review!

* * *

It was now late in the afternoon and the sun was setting over the western mountains while the moon lingered on the sky. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were sitting on one of the branches of the World Tree as they watched the Digital World preparing itself for the night. Leopardmon had left them earlier on to attend to other duties. Behind, the same crystal levitated, keeping a watchful eye on their movements. The cool wind blew across the land as the once active daytime digimon scurry away and the nocturnal digimon start to come out and play; three Garurumons were lounging by the lake talking casually with each other, Kunemons munching leaves off of a nearby tree and more. Looking at such a scene brought smiles on its onlookers.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Fanbeemon asked dreamily. All he got was a nod and a hum of agreement as his partner continued to stare at the world below.

No other words were exchanged until a person was walking towards them from behind. The rookie digimon and human haven't realized their new companion but the crystal behind them floated up and down as a nod to the newcomer. All four looked on for a while before the fourth spoke. "No matter how many times I see things the way they are now, it always takes my breath away." The person's silvery voice stated making Fanbeemon and Tsubasa jump and quickly turned to who spoke. They saw it was Xiphiamon in his humanoid form; his light blue armor and fins glowed brilliantly with the sun's light.

"Xiphiamon, you scared us!" The boy said in between pants as he felt his heartbeat race.

Xiphiamon just rubbed the back of his finned helm and looked apologetically. "Forgive me. I was just to summon you for supper but I could not help but notice what you were doing." He then clapped his hands together and his eyes littered with joy. "What luck you have as well. Today, it is Gallantmon's turn to prepare the food." The two smaller beings smiled at the obvious excitement building up within the knight. "You have not lived until you tried his cooking."

Fanbeemon and Tsubasa stood up, laughing heartily. Xiphiamon picked up the trio and started walking back inside the world tree, all the while telling his passengers about his favorite foods. It didn't take long for the aqua knight to reach the rec room where they spoke with Gallantmon and Leopardmon earlier. All of the other resident knights were lounging in the main area while Gallantmon was finishing up their food. A strong, mouth-watering aroma was emanating from the kitchen.

The swordfish knight settled at the table where Leopardmon, Dynasmon and Magnamon were. Leopardmon was playing with the video game he had earlier while Magnamon watched with intense curiosity. Dynasmon was just sitting there, leaning back, eyes closed and arms crossed behind his head. Upon their arrival, the three knights nodded to them then went back to what they were doing. Xiphiamon lowered his passengers unto the table. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked around the room to see what the other knights were doing. At one table, Merlinmon flipping through a book while RhodoKnightmon and Craniamon were discussing something. At another table, Examon and UlforceVeedramon were laughing at a joke Examon told while Omnimon and Kentaurosmon were talking casually.

Gallantmon came out of the kitchen area and called out. "Everyone, the food is ready! I hope everyone's hungry!" 12 crystal obelisks appeared beside Gallantmon and used an unknown force to lift the trays and bring them to their respective owners. There were also two smaller trays with the same type of food that was given to the digidestined. There was a plate in the middle with noodles on them. On top of it was a white sauce with bits of meat and mushrooms. Tsubasa smelled it and it had a light and sweet

aroma. Beside the main plate, there was bowl of salad and fruit parfait. For beverage, there was a glass of orange liquid on the side. Before Gallantmon went towards the table he shares with Merlinmon, Crusadermon and Craniamon, he went over to the human and kneeled to meet the boy at eye level. "I did not know what you wanted to eat for dinner so I thought to make something simple. I hope it is to your liking."

Tsubasa took his fork and twirled it around the noodles. He then raised it and put the acquired noodles in his mouth, chewing and evaluating how it tasted. After swallowing, everyone was staring at the boy for his reaction. Tsubasa opened his eyes wide with shock. "It's delicious!" The boy started to wolf down the food. As he ate, the other knights, except RhodoKnightmon, laughed until they saw the human choking and his partner helping him out.

"Careful there, little one." Dynasmon stated. "Slow down. One should not rush food."

"Sorry…" Tsubasa said with a cough. "I just couldn't get over how delicious it was." He then looked towards Gallantmon. "What's your secret, Gallantmon?"

The red and white knight stood up to full height, chuckling, then crossed his arms over his chest. "There is no secret. A simple dish made with passion and love can become a glorious feast."

"A bit corny, don't you think?" Fanbeemon said after swallowing his mouthful of carbonara but immediately continues to eat.

The two enjoyed the company with the other knights as all of them ate supper. "So what kind of mission did Masaru go on?" Tsubasa asked innocently as he twirled his fork to pick up his food.

"If I remember correctly," Merlinmon started before he put a forkful of vegetables from his salad into his mouth. "He was to investigate some battles that were occurring on the southern savannahs. He left about a week ago."

Fanbeemon continued to eat. "Did he go alone?"

"No." Leopardmon replied. "He went there along with Agumon and the rest of the chosen digimons of DATS." He then pointed to Kentaurosmon. "Except for him of course." In return, the centaur knight gave the feline knight a hard glare which the latter just ignored.

Fanbeemon started to cough loudly then quickly drank from his cup. He then looked at Kentaurosmon. "Wait, you're a partnered digimon?" The bee digimon gasped.

Kentaurosmon let out an audible sigh then looked at the ceiling. "Yes, I was. I was the partnered digimon of the leader of Masaru's team. However," He then smiled at the chosen pair. "I am not the digimon of their organization's leader and strongest digimon in DATS."

"Who is it then?" Tsubasa inquired.

"Well…" Kentaurosmon started. "Agumon is undoubtedly a strong digimon. Although, even in his mega or burst mode form, the digimon who is stronger than him is their commander's digimon, Kamemon."

It wasn't long before all were finished with their meals. The obelisks used their powers once more to take the trays away as the diners rest. Fanbeemon lied down and rubbed his belly. "Wow. Haven't had meals like that in a while." The rookie digimon exclaimed.

Tsubasa clapped his hands together; the boy had a wide grin and a toothpick was held by his teeth. "Thanks for the food! It was delicious!"

"Such a polite child." Magnamon commented as he mimicked the human's gesture.

"I told you. You have not lived until you tried Gallantmon's food." Xiphiamon said then drank from glass.

Gallantmon waved off the compliment. A tooth pick was protruding from one of the holes on his helm that was protecting his mouth. "You give me too much credit, Xiphiamon."

"It's true though." Fanbeemon burped after the statement and excused himself afterwards.

Their rest didn't take long and the knights started to leave the area. Tsubasa, Fanbeemon and their guardian obelisk, with the help of Dynasmon, got to the floor and started to venture around the base once more. The trio slowly walked through the halls of the World Tree. Looking around for anything of interest. After some walking, the trio they have gone through a few storage rooms and locked rooms. They soon reached a huge circular area. Around the area were multiple doors placed that were distributed into two levels: one on the bottom and one on the top. There were seven doors on each level. Four stairways led to the upper level. The above of the room had a circular skylight with luminous crystals lining it.

"What could this be?" Tsubasa asked as he looked around. A moment later, the trio could hear soft humming coming from the second door from the right of the lower level. The melody was beautiful even though the voice of the one humming seemed rough. Tsubasa led the other two towards the origin of the sound. Once by the door, the human banged his fist on the door. "Hello? Anyone home?" Tsubasa called out.

Instantly, the humming stopped and shuffling could be heard from beyond the door. The door opened to reveal Craniamon holding a rag on his right hand. The purple knight looked around to seek the intruder but doesn't see anyone. "Is someone there?"

"Down here!"

Craniamon looked down and saw Tsubasa waving at him jovially with Fanbeemon and their guardian obelisk standing by his side. He then kneeled to lower the strain on his visitors' necks. "Greetings. I see you have found our quarters." Craniamon informed.

"Quarters?" Fanbeemon turned to look at the other doors curiously. "So these are your rooms? But why are there fourteen when there are thirteen knights?"

"The other room is used to house Masaru and his friends." The knight explained then moved aside. "Would you like to come in?"

The visiting trine walked into Craniamon's room and suddenly the chosen partners felt uncomfortable as they saw the numerous weapons hanging from the metal walls. There were a wide array of swords, pole arms, axes, daggers, shields and mace weapons scattered around. On the ceiling, there was a huge crystal illuminating the room. On one side of the room was a bed and beside it was a desk and chair. On the other side was another door.

"Is something the matter?" Craniamon asked innocently.

"How could you sleep in a place that looks more like an armory than a bedroom?" Fanbeemon inquired incredulously as he stared at a morning star with fearful eyes.

The purple knight shrugged. "It is not as bad as you may think." He closed the door then walked over to pick up a black kite shield with a skull insignia in the middle. Craniamon moved to his bed and sat down. "Although being the team's weapons expert, it is quite easy for me to get accustomed to the room's arrangement." The knight started to rub the cloth he held unto the shield while humming.

Fanbeemon and Tsubasa watched the knight carefully as he cleaned his shield. Craniamon seemed so serene as he continued his chore. After a while though, it seemed that the knight noticed them staring as he stopped and looked at them with curious eyes. "Not to seem rude but your stares are a bit unnerving."

"Sorry." Tsubasa said while scratching the back of his head and looking sheepishly. "He then looked at all the weapons around him. "So do you clean all of them?"

"If I have the time, yes." The knight stated as he continued cleaning. "It calms me down especially after a great battle."

Fanbeemon flew up and inspected the shield Craniamon was cleaning. He saw that there were cracks and scratches on it. "Wow. This one must have gone through a lot of battles based on the damage it took." The rookie digimon commented.

A hearty chuckle immediately filled the room. "Yes, it has." Craniamon said with great pride. "However, this damage was not caused by a number of battles. It was only caused by one."

"Your enemy must have been very strong." Fanbeemon said. "Who was it?"

"It was Masaru's team actually. Their partnered digimons and Masaru himself attacked me continuously until they destroyed my Avalon."

"Avalon? As in from King Arthur's story?" Tsubasa asked curiously. "That's the name of your shield?"

Fanbeemon and Craniamon looked at each other confusingly then stared at the boy. "Who is this King Arthur you speak of?" Craniamon spoke.

Tsubasa then told the story of King Arthur: his childhood, the legend of Excalibur, becoming king and forming the Knights of the Round Table and the story behind Avalon. The two digimons listened with intense curiosity and were fascinated by the tale. Craniamon mused as how the tale of the Knights of the Round Table was similar to their own life. When Tsubasa was finished, the knight seemed to grin as he stared at his shield. "This Avalon place seems so peaceful. Just like that, we, Royal Knights, seek to create a paradise like that for our fellow digimon." He moved his right hand over the skull pattern on the shield. He then looked at the Tsubasa. "Thank you for telling me such a wondrous tale."

"How did you know about that story?" Fanbeemon inquired.

Tsubasa just smiled. "I like to read. I like to imagine all kinds of stuff and stories like those give inspiration."

"Are there more stories like that from your world?" Craniamon asked. Would you mind telling me more some other time?"

The human nodded. "Sure!"

The purple knight chuckled at the boy but at the same time felt excited for the next story he was going to hear. "Thank you. I think it is getting late." Craniamon settled Avalon down on his bed then stood up. "We prepared a room for you to stay in." He then proceeded to walk towards the door with the trio behind him. He them walked a short while before stopping at the door next to his room. "This is Masaru's room. You can stay here for a while. I am sure he would not mind."

Once the door was opened, they could see utter chaos inside. Clothes thrown everywhere, exercise equipment like dumbbells scattered on the floor, some food items can be found in some undesirable places and there was a foul smell lingering about. "I can see that Masaru has neglected his cleaning duties before he left." Craniamon sighed. He whistled and two crystal obelisks appeared. "Would you mind cleaning the room" The obelisks then started to clean up. The knight then closed the door. "As it would seem you will have to stay in one of the knights' rooms." He then stood up straight. "If that is the case, you can stay with me for the evening as a way to repay you for the tale you told me earlier."

"Uh…" Fanbeemon nervously voiced. "Th-Thanks but can we stay with some other knight?"

Sensing the fear in the smaller digimon's voice, Craniamon laughed. "Do not fret. If it is because of all the weapons, I have a way to store them that will ensure your safety."

Back in Craniamon's room, he clapped his hands twice and instantly, the weapons and shields disappeared. The partnered duo looked around to find where they disappeared to. "The weapons and shield are stored inside my very own DigiCode. That is how I can summon them when I need them. I only let all of them out when I am cleaning them."

The crystal that was with the duo floated to the top of the desk and momentarily glowed. Craniamon helped the two up to his desk and they saw a pair of futons beside the obelisk as the giant stone hovered innocently. Feeling the strain of the day, the two yawned and slowly got under the covers of the futon. "Sleep, young ones. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully Masaru returns tomorrow." Craniamon stated as he dimmed the lights in his room. The duo immediately fell asleep with the obelisk guarding them and Craniamon checking up on them from time to time.

* * *

I'll try to write as much as I can to finish my current projects. As time passes by, I am thinking of more projects but can't do them because of the unfinished ones. Until next time!


	16. Speed Demon

Hello! Here's chapter 16! Hopefully you'll like it!

_**Spoiler Alert:**_ For those who haven't watched or finished Digimon X Evolution yet, I'd advise not to read this chapter for now until you do. For anyone else, you can go ahead.

I hope I could post more often. Oh well, that's life.

Please read and review!

* * *

A peaceful night has passed in the DigiWorld and now the bright sun rose from the east as the three moons descends on the west. One by one, the nocturnal life was being replaced by the morning digimons; Kokatorimons were crowing, Aquilamons were flying high above the sky, Coelamons and Crabmons playing in the water and so much more. A morning mist was still lingering around the World Tree but was slowly disappearing to reveal the marvel of the Royal Knights' Headquarters.

Inside the tree, specifically in Craniamon's room, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were just waking up from their slumber. Both yawned, stood up stretched a little then arranged greeted their guardian obelisk a good morning. The obelisk stored the futons away while the two went to the side of the desk closest to Craniamon. They were about to greet him as well when they saw the purple knight slumbering under the covers, snoring softly and mumbling about a sword he wants to add in his collection. The two chuckled lightly then got down from the desk with the help of the obelisk and silently went out of Craniamon's room.

"Hmmm…" Tsubasa started. "I wonder who else is awake." The trio walked around the base to look for the other knights. It didn't seem polite to knock on any of their doors just to check if they were awake or not. They shuddered as the thought of RhodoKnightmon threatening to cut them into ribbons if they disturbed his sleep.

They moved along the halls, stopping at some of the rooms they were more familiar with: the rec room, the training room, the observation room but no signs of the other knights. They continued with their search and through their exploration, they reached the bottom exit, albeit the numerous times they went in circles and turning around. They were greeted with the view of the lake, with the water sparkling with the early morning sunshine. The roots of the World Tree stretched out for miles then disappeared into the ground. The plains were becoming livelier as more digimon were coming out to play.

As the two were stunned by the scene, soft quakes could be felt on the ground. "W-What's going on?" Tsubasa asked fearfully while trying to keep a steady stance.

"I-I d-don't know." Fanbeemon stuttered as he tried to help his partner. ""I-It's w-weird. T-The q-quakes are small b-but they are manifesting in succession."

As time passed, the quakes were becoming stronger but the frequency stayed the same. To their left, they could see a dust cloud coming towards them. "C-Could tha-! Ouch! I bith ny thounge!" The young boy cried.

The dust cloud came closer and closer but and the quakes become stronger. Just then, a blue blur passed by with the dust cloud trailing it. The dirt caused a fit of coughing from the partnered duo as they desperately tried to make the dust settle or move away. "Oh sorry about that." An apologetic, jovial yet deep voice stated. As the dust begins to settle, the partnered air could see an outline of a large humanoid entity wearing a cape. Its helm formed a V-shaped shadow with the spike on top of it. Soon the air became clear and the two see UlforceVeedramon standing before them. His blue and silver armor shone brightly with the sunlight. "Good morning!" UlforceVeedramon greeted with a salute.

"G-Good morning…" The chosen pair greeted softly.

"Forgive me for the dust storm." The blue knight said sheepishly with his right hand scratching the back of his helm. "I did not realize that I had one trailing behind me.

"It's fine." Fanbeemon said before coughing one last time and shaking the dust off of his head. "What were you doing anyway?

"Out for my routine morning jog."

"You do this every day?" The human asked. UlforceVeedramon nodded. "How far do you run?"

UlforceVeedramon put his fists on his hips and stood proud with his chest plate raised. "Around the three which is about 3 miles in diameter." The blue knight stated.

Fanbeemon cocked his head to the side, staring at the knight strangely. "So what? That doesn't sound so bad."

At that the knight laughed loudly. "I told you how long are one of my routes." UlforceVeedramon said. "I didn't tell you how long the others are or how many times I go around the tree."

"So how many times DO you go around the base?"

"At least 200 times." The dragon knight stated nonchalantly.

With that, Tsubasa's jaw dropped and Fanbeemon just stared at the knight with his mandible open while the knight was surely grinning behind his faceplate. "200 times? And how long does it take you to finish that?" The rookie digimon asked incredulously.

"My fastest record is 12.57 minutes."

Fanbeemon sighed and shook his head. "Should have known. You're not called the fastest knight for nothing."

Tsubasa snapped out of his stupor to stare to look at the blue knight. "You're the fastest of all the knights?" All he got for a response was UlforceVeedramon raising his right hand and his fingers showing a V for victory; still, beneath his helm was a huge toothy grin.

UlforceVeedramon looked towards the eastern horizon and saw that the sun was still just above the mountains. The four could feel the wind blowing through the area and it faintly smelled of wet grass and with the sun just up, the air was still cool. Feeling the wind on his body, UlforceVeedramon started to do groin stretching exercises. He then turned his head to his companions. "Why not join me for a jog?" The blue knight offered. "I will run at your pace so as not to leave you behind."

The chosen pair seemed to think over it for a while before they nodded their heads and started to stretch as well. UlforceVeedramon coached them, of course. After minutes of stretching, the trio started to jog, or at least Tsubasa was. With Fanbeemon's case, he just hovered around while UlforceVeedramon was just walking due to their size difference. The guardian obelisk followed them silently. The trio "jogged" for a few silent minutes before Tsubasa started panting and was becoming slower. "You are doing quite well for child of your age, Tsubasa. I might just make a professional athlete of you yet." The dragon knight commented, glee was evident in his voice.

"I… I think… I need… To catch… My breath…" Tsubasa panted as he slowly came to a stop. His partner landed softly behind him, panting as well.

"How far… Have we gone?" Fanbeemon asked.

"About 2 miles." The knight stated. "That is not bad for ones so young." He then whistled to the obelisk that was with them. He pointed towards the two smaller beings. The obelisk came closer to then and shot out a stream of water towards their heads to cool them off. After the knight was satisfied, he asked the crystal to stop. "Feeling better?"

"Cool…" Tsubasa said. "Tired but cool."

"I can't imagine doing this every day. It barely scratched your course length." Fanbeemon stated.

UlforceVeedramon laughed. "I was like you at first. I started to train back when I was still a young Veemon. I was aiming to increase my speed and stamina to acquire more power for my V Head butt. Eventually, I got stronger and faster. I continued my speed training as I grew to a Veedramon then AeroVeedramon and finally to my current form. It's hard at first but after a while, you will get used to it."

Just then, UlforceVeedramon's, Tsubasa's, and Fanbeemon's stomachs rumbled all at the same time. "It seems it is time for breakfast." UlforceVeedramon said. He kneeled down and set his hand down beside the chosen pair. "I will carry you to the rec room as it seems you are too tired to walk." Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were grateful as they moved towards the knight's hand. UlforceVeedramon then stood up and started walking back into the World Tree with the crystal right behind him.

It didn't take long for them to reach the rec room and saw that some of the knights were already there. All but Craniamon, Merlinmon and RhodoKnightmon were the only ones missing in the room. Magnamon was the one making breakfast for everyone that morning. The gold armor clad knight was currently making fried rice. UlforceVeedramon sat at a table occupied by Examon, who sat and drooled quietly as he watched Magnamon cooking, and Omnimon, who was looking over his Garuru Cannon.

"You know Examon," Omnimon started. "If you keep your mouth open like that, you might just catch flymons in there."

UlforceVeedramon chuckled. "Now, now, Omnimon. You know how he is when it comes to food; always ready to eat." He then looked to the red dragon digimon amusingly. "I do find it intriguing that no matter how much food he eats, he doesn't show any change in mass."

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked around and noticed that some of the other knights weren't there yet. "Shouldn't someone call the others? Their meals might get cold." Tsubasa said.

"It would be best to leave them be." Omnimon replied. Just as he said that, they heard footsteps coming from the hall. "Speak of the Devimon." He looked behind him and saw Craniamon, Merlinmon and RhodoKnightmon walking towards their tables. "Good morning."

Craniamon just groaned, RhodoKnightmon snorted and Merlinmon greeted back flatly; to all of which, Omnimon just sighed and went back to inspecting his weapon.

"I guess they're not morning people." Fanbeemon commented.

"Craniamon not really. RhodoKnightmon is RhodoKnightmon. Merlinmon's case, that's just how he greets but he is alright during morning." UlforceVeedramon explained before his face showed a glint of mischief. "You should see how Dynasmon is during a bad morning."

Suddenly, Dynasmon appeared behind the blue and white dragon knight with a dark look on his face. He looked at the chosen duo. "Perhaps you want me to demonstrate how I act during a bad day. If UlforceVeedramon continues to speak of such thing, I might just consider that request." Dynasmon stated seriously. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon quickly shook their heads and UlforceVeedramon just laughed nervously.

It was then that Magnamon and several obelisks started to serve their breakfast. All looked at their plates or a while to check what was prepared. There were a couple of slices of toast on the side. For the main were bacon and eggs plus a big helping of fried rice. For beverage, it was freshly squeezed orange juice. "Itadakimasu!" Tsubasa stated loudly before biting into the toast.

All of the digimons started eating as well and making idle chat with each other. The only human was about to consume his bacon when a thought came to him and stopped him mid-bite. At this, Fanbeemon looked at him questioningly. "Something wrong, buddy?" Their tablemates then looked at the boy.

"Is there a problem with your food?" Omnimon asked.

"If you do not want it, I would eat it for you, if you like." Examon said excitingly. Around his mouth, there were small grains of rice sticking to it while he gave a goofy grin.

"I was just wondering." He inspected the bacon attached to his fork. "Since all living things here are digimons, where does this meat and egg come from?" He then stared at the knights with wide eyes and horror in his expression. "Don't tell me… You guys eat…?"

Sensing what was going through his partner's mind, Fanbeemon quickly responded. "N-No! That's not it! We grow them!"

"Grow them?"

"Yes." Omnimon answered. "There are certain phenomena that are physically impossible in your world but completely normal in ours. For example, we grow meat like we grow plants."

"You mean, plant seeds, water, and sunlight?"

Dynasmon laughed. "Yes, that is basically it." His mouth plate parted and he took a sip from his juice. "However, instead of sowing seeds, we bury bones from the meat we consumed."

"For eggs, we bury the egg shells." Merlinmon continued. "We cannot eat eggs of another digimon since it is also considered a taboo."

Tsubasa nodded understandingly but another thought came to him. "How do you get your food then? Do you grow them yourselves or buy them? Frankly, I can't imagine one of going shopping?" Tsubasa smiled nervously once more.

"We actually do buy them but we don't shop for them." Xiphiamon said with a giggle. He was looking to his side towards RhodoKnightmon. He was imagining what it would look like if RhodoKnightmon was going around the market with a basket on hand, buying food for the knights. After a while, the pink knight caught the aqua knight staring at him. He quickly looked at the other knight as if to glare at Xiphiamon.

"So you have a contractor?" Fanbeemon asked between sips from his orange juice.

"Two actually." Leopardmon was the one who spoke. "One is a friend of mine; he's a Vegiemon while the other is Lord Alphamon."

Fanbeemon sprayed his juice in front of him. "L-Lord Alphamon? S-So when you said he was living a quiet life, you meant…!"

All of the knights nodded and answered, "Farm life."

"And quite a successful one at that." Gallantmon continued.

At a certain farm towards the west, a purple and white dragon with a red gem on his head sneezed as he was tilling the soil. A white ball digimon with antennae like appendages crossed on his face came over at the dragon. "Mon, you okay?" The white ball digimon asked innocently.

The dragon sniffed and nodded weakly. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine Tokomon. Must have had something up my nose for a sec."

Tokomon X shrugged. "Okay, if D-Do… Ru… Mon says so." He said the "mon" part clearer than any other part of the name.

Dorumon looked towards the sky. 'I wonder… Was someone talking about me?' He then continued tilling the soil.

After their breakfast and a short rest, the knight started to disperse to do their duties. UIforceVeedramon lowered the chosen pair to the ground. "So where are you off to?"

"Probably just going on a stroll and visit Seadramon by the lake." Tsubasa replied.

"Well then come along with me. I will be heading out for patrol." He then noticed the two looking at him darkly as if expecting something bad. The blue and white knight then chuckled. "Do not worry. I will walk slowly. I will not run just after a meal." He then gestured to the door. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon started walking to the door while UlforceVeedramon led them outside.

* * *

There you go!

That was quicker to make than I had imagined. Here's to hoping that I'll be able to make the next chapter (or story) as quick as this one.

Watch out for the next one! See ya!


	17. Bubble Boy Tsubasa

Man, it's been a long time since I updated my story. To all the readers who have stayed with this up until now, I apologize. I've been very busy with school work this past semester. Also, thank you for sticking with the story up until now.

Now without further ado, here is the new chapter.

* * *

After being led outside, UlforceVeedramon took off running to go on his patrol. Fanbeemon and Tsubasa watched as the dust cloud made by the blue dragon knight slowly grew smaller. The two, along with their guard, walked towards the lake where they left Seadramon after they were attacked by a school of MetalPiranimon and Examon saved them. Tsubasa suddenly remembered Seadramon's pained expression from when he was bitten so he started to walk faster to the shoreline.

Once they reached the shore, they saw Seadramon hovering on land while a huge form stood beside it. "Ah, it is good to see you are alright. I was afraid of what might have happened to you after what Examon reported." The mysterious digimon's deep, fluid voice rang. The chosen pair saw Seadramon smiled and nodded to the other. The two then chose to reveal themselves to get a better look. They saw that it was Xiphiamon, the lone water digimon of the Royal Knights. The knight and serpent digimons looked at their new companions. "Good Morning!" Xiphiamon greeted.

"Good morning!" The chosen pair greeted back. They then looked towards Seadramon. "It's good to see that you're okay, Seadramon." The rookie digimon said. Seadramon grinned at him.

"I didn't know he could float in mid-air, much less get out of water." As reply, Seadramon formed a ring with his body and rolled in mid-air, making Tsubasa applaud him.

Xiphiamon chuckled at the child's innocence. "Contrary to his name, Seadramon can survive outside of the water but not for long. He would always have a need for it." To prove his point, Seadramon launched himself towards the water, making a large plume of water. After a while, Seadramon rose so that his skull cap was showing and his eyes were glowing with satisfaction. "Most water digimon are amphibious; some examples are Coelamon, Ebidramon, and others of the Seadramon family line." The aqua knight continued.

"That's gotta be a sight." The boy laughed. "From the size of the Ebidramon I saw yesterday, having one above water would be scary."

"You should be." The cerulean knight stated. "Ebidramons usually have a very fierce personality and attack anyone who they dislike."

Tsubasa visibly shivered at the warning which Fanbeemon instantly noticed. "S-So what brings you out here early this morning?" Fanbeemon asked to change the subject.

"Oh I heard about what happened between you and the school of MetalPiranimons and I wanted to see how Seadramon was doing. Also…" Xiphiamon supplied. He gave the water dragon digimon a small wave and got a wave of the tail in response. He started to do some teres stretches. "It is a habit of mine to go on a morning swim everyday. It is a good way to get some exercise and talk to my fellow water digimons." Xiphiamon said with his eyes glowing with glee.

Tsubasa giggled. "Wow… I never had the impression that you guys were so health conscious." The human laughed even more when Xiphiamon started to do jumping jacks, despite the former having trouble with his footing due to the quakes generated from the knight's jumping.

"Of course. We have to be in top shape to be able to guard the DigiWorld." A hint of mischief suddenly came to the knight. "Would you like to join me?"

"Uhh… I'm okay with that but I don't really have any swimwear with me." The boy replied.

Feeling Xiphiamon's stare shifting towards him, Fanbeemon flinched a little. "H-Hey don't look at me! Bees and water don't exactly mix." The rookie digimon crossed his claws above his thorax. "I'd rather have my wings to be nice and dry. Thank you very much."

Xiphiamon finished his exercise and just stared at the two smaller forms on land. He then looked at Seadramon, who returned his gaze. Seadramon gurgled a little, making bubbles around his mouth. One particular bubble rose from the water up to the Xiphiamon's eye level. The four watched the bubble with wonder as it hovered in front of the swordfish knight's helm until it popped. The knight stared at where the bubble was for a moment before an idea came to him. With a nod, he summoned his lance and used the pointed end to start writing something on the surface of the water. Glowing lines appeared as the tip of the spear moved across the water.

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon moved closer to see what the knight was trying to write. The symbol was mainly a huge circle with digital alphabets written around it. "Umm… Xiphiamon, what are you drawing?" Tsubasa asked worriedly.

"I am just trying out the spell Merlinmon taught me." Xiphiamon answered as he continued writing. "Since I am not a natural wizard like him, I need to draw a glyph to use it."

"What will it do exactly?" Fanbeemon enquired as his eyes followed the gliding of the spear above the water.

"You shall see in a moment… There!" The completed glyph shone bright blue on the surface of the water. Xiphiamon turned to the chosen pair and gestured to the symbol. "Please stand on the glyph."

"WHAT?" Fanbeemon yelped. "Are you crazy? I'll be fine going over there but I'm not going to let you drown my partner!" Fanbeemon quickly latched himself unto his partner's torso and was glaring at the knight.

The knight chuckled getting confused stares from the two. "Do not worry. He will not sink, I assure you." The blue knight took a small rock and threw it towards the glyph. Instead of sinking into the water, the pebble just bounced on the surface of the water and stayed there. A bubble formed around the stone and slowly, it started to float on air. "See. The glyph creates a bubble around the target. It actually does not harm to anyone."

As if wanting to help in the explanation, Seadramon drove its tail into the water and lifted it up, showing that it was wrapped around a surprised crabmon. The destined duo gawked at the struggling blue crab while Xiphiamon watched silently. The serpent digimon then dropped the crustacean unto the glyph and was became amused as it watch Crabmon levitating in the air inside a bubble. The Crabmon had a look of shock as it realized it was suddenly airborne. After a while, Crabmon poked he bubble with its pincer, popping it and allowing him to drop into the water two feet below him.

Xiphiamon turned back to see the two smaller forms on the ground, only to see that they were still stunned in disbelief as Seadramon continued picking up small aquatic digimon and experimenting on the glyph for his amusement. The cerulean knight snapped his finger to get the others attention. He also waved at the serpent to stop as some of the other digimons were starting to get annoyed. "The bubble acts as a barrier around the subject." Xiphiamon continued with his explanation. "Since I was the one who casted the spell, I can control where the bubble goes so you do not have to worry about floating away. Inside, the person can breathe freely, even underwater."

"Uh-huh… So you want us to get in one of those things?" Fanbeemon asked suspiciously.

"Shouldn't we let Seadramon go back to Surfimon first?" Tsubasa said while staring at the digimon in question.

Xiphiamon chuckled. "It is fine. Surfimon and I are good friends. I will explain to him what happened and I'm sure he will understand. Besides," He then turned to Seadramon. "I still need to check if he can swim well after what happened. That, and I need to give those Piranimons a stern talking to about attacking other digimons like that." The knight then jumped into the air; his body quickly shifting to turn into his swordfish form. He landed a few feet to the left of Seadramon, creating a splash. Thankfully, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were not wet. After a short while, Xiphiamon in his animal form rose and looked at the pair on land. "Now, please step on to the glyph and I will handle the rest."

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon looked each other; the former had excited sparkle in his eyes while the latter had that of uncertainty. The human just shrugged and stepped up to the magic circle with his partner following hesitantly. A bubble formed around the two instead of having one for each of them. The bubble started to move up, leaving the two to levitate above the surface of the water. Tsubasa started to tumble around the bubble as he was unable to put his feet on the sides of the container. "Wow, this feels really weird but fun." Tsubasa commented excitedly. "I wonder if this is how it feels to be in space."

"More or less." Xiphiamons chuckled. "Now, let us go. Perhaps you would learn a thing or two about aquatic digimons." With that, Xiphiamon commanded the bubble to touch the water and slowly sink into the water; Tsubasa whooped excitedly while Fanbeemon looked around the bubble fearfully. The two water digimons dove down as well to follow then lead the bubble through the large lake.

A myriad of water digimons came into full sight as the four swam through the water. Dolphmons swimming happily by, Crabmons scuttling on the lake floor, a Gomamon playing with his marching fishes, the scene was absolutely stunning… For three at least. "Find a happy place… Find a happy place… Find a happy place…" Fanbeemon continuously mumbled as he kept shuddering and looking at the water fearfully. Tsubasa patted his partner's head comfortingly.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, my friend." Xiphiamon reassured from in front of the two. "You are completely safe as long as you are inside the barrier."

"B-But w-w-what ab-bout my c-claws? I m-might pop the b-b-bubble and drown the two of us."

The swordfish mimic turned his head to give the bee digimon a gentle smile. "Do not worry. If you were pertaining to how easily that crabmon popped his bubble, it was due to his decision." Xiphiamon explained. "The bubble will only disappear if the person inside wants it to. As long as you do not want to go outside, the barrier will stay and will not let anything get inside except light, air and sound."

"See, Fanbeemon, there's nothing to worry about." The human said softly. "Besides, if we get into trouble, I'm sure Xiphiamon and Seadramon would help us out, right?" At that, the two aquatic digimons nodded at them.

"As long as I don't get wet…" The rookie digimon mumbled. "Bees and water don't mix."

"Understandable." Xiphiamon responded seriously. "Now, how about we find that school of Piranimon that attacked you yesterday?"

Tsubasa looked around the water to see no traces of the Piranimons. "How are we going to find them? This lake is huge."

The knight chuckled. "When in looking for someone within the water, it's best to ask the natives." He looked at the multitude of water digimons in the area who could possibly help with their inquiry. "Hmm… Oh! I think I know the perfect person to ask." Xiphiamon swam the center of the lake with Seadramon, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon in tow. The quartet stopped at a large ridge on the floor.

Fanbeemon looked down fearfully towards the bottom and saw nothing but darkness. What made him yelp in surprise and clung to his partner was the appearance of two glowing white eyes. "Ah… Xiphiamon, to what pleasure do I owe this visit?" A deep voice spoke from the lake floor.

"We have a question we would like to ask, old friend." Xiphiamon chuckled. "Also, I would like to introduce you to someone." The knight added while gesturing towards the ones in the bubble with his fin.

Tsubasa could instantly feel the person beneath them staring at him curiously. "A human? A very rare sight indeed." Bubbles, from under the ridge, rushed towards the surface as the glowing eyes grew larger. The light from the sun started to shine on the mysterious being, revealing a massive white form. Small quakes could be felt on the ground, scaring some of the smaller digimons around. The large creature stopped only when its head was at level with Xiphiamon and the others. Tsubasa looked at the larger beings form and took note that it looked like an aquatic dinosaur but white. "Greetings, I am known as Plesiomon." The dinosaur grinned. "It's been so long since I have last seen a human."

Tsubasa's jaw visibly dropped. "Woah… A dinosaur shaped digimon… If my history teacher could see me now, she'd freak out!"

"Plesiomon is the leader of this lake community." Xiphiamon explained. "If there was anything that happened in these waters, he would know about it."

The white plesiosaur looked at the swordfish mimic. "I would assume you are pertaining to the incident concerning a certain school of fish." Plesiomon said.

The swordfish nodded. "Actually, these three with me were also involved in that event." To prove the knight's point, all three waved at the larger digimon. "We were wondering if you know where those MetalPiranimons went. I plan to give them a stern lecture on attacking unsuspecting digimons."

Plesiomon laughed heartily. "I'm sure you will." The white plesiosaur rose from the trench then turned to his left. "I believe they are at their hideout over by the anemone area not far from here. Let's go, shall we?" The other four nodded then they started to go towards the direction Plesiomon pointed with the larger digimon leading the way.

It wasn't long before the group came towards a part of the lake floor where numerous anemones were staying. Plesiomon pointed one in particular which Xiphiamon, with the other three in tow, quickly approached. "Alright, come out of there! We know you are hiding in there!" Xiphiamon shouted towards the anemone below them.

Tsubasa stared at the tentacles below for a while and soon numerous MetalPiranimon heads were peeking out of the myriad of stingers. The metal fish digimon looked at the ones above them with bored stares. "Huh? What are you guys shouting for?" The MetalPiranimon in the middle asked flatly.

"We came here in relation to the attack on this Seadramon." Xiphiamon gestured at Seadramon, who was visibly rattled from meeting his attackers once more. "Did you really attack him?"

The MetalPiranimons looked towards Seadramon and let out a toothy grin, which earned them a squawk of fear from the serpent digimon. Xiphiamon quickly blocked their view of Seadramon which they frowned at. "Yeah, we attacked him." The leader fish said. "But, we weren't going to actually hurt him. "We just wanted to scare him a bit, especially since it looked like a new human was with him. We didn't count on that Fanbeemon shooting at us though."

"You mean all of that was just a joke to you?" Fanbeemon yelped. "What's wrong with you? My partner could have gone overboard and he might have drowned!"

The MetalPiranimon frowned at him. "As I said, we weren't going to hurt you. If that did happen, we would have helped him."

"Why do I seriously doubt that?" Fanbeemon mumbled.

"You got something to say, bug?" The leader fish barked at Fanbeemon. "Why don't you come out of that bubble and tell it to my face? Oh, I forgot, you can't, can you? You can't swim, cant you?" All Fanbeemon could do was growl as all MetalPiranimon said was true. Tsubasa tried to calm his partner down though having only minimal progress.

"ENOUGH!" Plesiomon bellowed. He then stared at MetalPiranimon and Fanbeemon, thinking that they might continue, before he sighed wearily. "How many times do we have to scold you before you stop scaring everyone around you? What exactly are we supposed to do with all of you"

"Scold?" Tsubasa looked at Plesiomon confusingly. "You make them sound like their kids?"

"Well…" Plesiomon started. "Actually, technically, they are…"

"What?"

Xiphiamon answered for Plesiomon. "Though these ones may be of Mega level, they are only equivalent to a teenager in your world."

Tsubasa and Fanbeemon stared at the school of Piranimon disbelievingly. "Seriously?"

"You mean to tell us, we got chased around the lake by some juveniles?" Fanbeemon asked incredulously.

"You got a problem with that?" The lead MetalPiranimon barked once more. This earned his a harsh stare from Xiphiamon and Plesiomon.

Xiphiamon sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. These ones are actually orphans who were able to digivolve on their own at a highly accelerated rate." After having said that, the MetalPiranimon looked prod at the fact.

"I can't believe this." Fanbeemon groaned.

"So the level of a digimon may or may not be proportional to his age?" Tsubasa asked curiously.

"Normally, yes, but there are some exceptions." Plesiomon replied. "We, digimons, don't still fully understand the process of digivolution ourselves."

"Okay, now I'm lost." This time, Tsubasa was the one who groaned.

Xiphiamon sighed once more before he turned to the two in the bubble and Seadramon. "I believe you should go back to the surface before another fight start." He then looked at Seadramon. "Please escort them back to the World Tree and then you are free to go back to Surfimon."

Seadramon brought his tail to his forehead as a form of salute then roared. It wasn't long before a group of 4 Dolphmons appeared. Seadramon looked like he was talking to the Dolphmons before the four nodded and went to the back of the bubble. The Dolphmons started bumping the bubble so it would move to the direction of the surface and shore near the World Tree.

Upon reaching the shore, the bubble audibly and visibly popped, leaving the destined duo on the shore. They turned back towards the water just in time to see the Dolphmons leaving the area. Seadramon was still on the shore though. "Thanks for bringing us here Seadramon." Tsubasa stated as he came over to the serpent digimon and was rubbing the latter's skull cap. "Say hi to Surfimon and everyone else for us."

Seadramon nodded then turned around towards the lake and slithered towards the direction of Cherrymon's settlement. Tsubasa and Fanbeemon waved at him and saw him off until Seadramon was nowhere in sight. The two then turned to head back inside of the World Tree.

* * *

Thank you for reading. Watch out for the next chapters, which I hope I can finish in a much shorter time compared to this one. Your reviews are much appreciated.


	18. Never too old for toys

Sorry to everyone that I was not able to update this fr a long time. After accomplishing my major project in school, I was officially considered a graduate and then focused on looking for a job. Now that I do have a job, I kind of forgot. Still, I will do my best to update my stories and try to write new ones.

Also, for give me if my writing quality has diminished as I haven't written in a while.

* * *

The rest of the morning at the World Tree was rather uneventful. After surfacing from the lake, Tsubasa and Fanbeemon were surprised to see that their guardian crystal was still on the shores, waiting for them to come back. Upon sensing its wards have returned, it quickly hovered near them. The obelisk led them back to the inside of the World Tree. The trio went around the base and had idle chat with some of the available knights. It was a relief that they couldn't find LoadKnightmon around. Lunch wasn't particularly interesting. Dynasmon was the one who cooked and the food wasn't as extravagant as the meals before. The wyvern knight explained that making great meals is optional; as long as the food served restores energy, it is fine. To which Examon replied that the white knight just don't know how to cook and Dynasmon just turned in silence after serving the food.

Around what they believe was 2pm in the afternoon, the digidestined duo was down a hallway when they heard some crashing sound by the next corner. The two ran towards the source of the sound with their crystal guardian in tow. Around the corner, they saw that Leopardmon was sitting on the ground, clutching his head in front of a door with numerous boxes scattered around him. Three more crystals were floating above him. "Ouch…" The two heard Leopard said as he shook his head and slowly got to his feet.

"Leopardmon!" Tsubasa called out as he and his two companions came closer to the feline mimic knight. "Are you okay?"

"What were you doing anyway?" Fanbeemon asked.

Leopardmon turned and looked at the three embarrassingly. "Oh, hello." The brown knight greeted. "Pardon for the noise. I am well. I was just trying to sort out some of the things inside some of our storage closets." He then turned to the one he came out of. "It seems this one is full and when I was moving some things around, the boxes toppled over. One hit me on the head."

"Didn't that hurt?" Tsubasa said with concern. This concern grew even more as he saw Leopardmon's eyes alternating from normal to crossed everytime he blinked.

"The actual impact does not hurt." Leopardmon laughed. "Although the ringing inside my head from the thing hitting my helm is still there." The feline mimic knight shook his head once more and then his eyes went back to normal. "I am fine now."

Fanbeemon tapped the box with his claw, trying to know what's inside. "What's in here anyway?" Leopardmon just shrugged. The rookie bee digimon flew up to the top of the box and opened it up. "Hey, what are these toys doing here?" Fanbeemon's voice floated from inside the box.

"Toys?... Oh, now I remember." Leopardmon stated gleefully. "These are Magnamon's."

Tsubasa looked at Leopardmon questioningly. "Magnamon's? Is he collecting them or something."

"I think it would be best if you heard it from him." The knight then turned to the duo's obelisk. "Could you carry this box to Magnamon's room please?" The obelisk quickly floated up and shone brightly. The toy box then started to float up. They instantly heard Fanbeemon yelp in surprise as suddenly the ground went up towards him. Leopardmon kneeled and lowered his hand for the boy below. "Climb aboard. This would be the easiest way for you to get to Magnamon's room." Leopardmon said. Tsubasa climbed onto the hand and was lifted towards the box's opening. The boy stood on one of the toys on top and clung to the side of the box. Fanbeemon, on the other hand, was struggling to pull himself out of the toys as the things crashed into him when the box was lifted. "Hold on now!" With that the box and the obelisk started moving, leaving Leopardmon waving at them with three other obelisks at his side.

It took them a good 10 minutes to get to the area of the knights' rooms. The ride was not particularly rough except for the occasional toy being thrown around inside the box and hitting Fanbeemon on the head. The box stopped by a door that had a gold V on top of it. Tsubasa reached out and banged his fist on the door as hard as he could. "Coming!" Magnamon's deep voice, though muffled, rang from beyond the door. Footsteps were head first before the door opened and the gold knight's form was revealed. "Oh, it is you two. How may I help you?"

"We have something for you." Tsubasa chimed "Something that Leopardmon said you have been looking for quite a while now."

Magnamon took hold of the box and looked inside to see the toys inside. "Where did he find this?" The knight asked towards the human.

"It was in one of the storage closets around the base. We don't know which one"

Magnamon stared at the toys nostalgically when he heard a muffled voice coming from a point in the box. The knight moved a few toys around and saw Fanbeemon buried in the small plastic items. Moving around a few more, and the small digimon was able to escape. "About time someone got me out of there." Fanbeemon muttered. "I was starting to develop claustrophobia and that creepy feeling you get when dolls are staring at you for no reason."

"S-Sorry." Fanbeemon's partner laughed nervously before turning to look at the toys. "So are you collecting these, Magnamon?" Tsubasa waited for an answer but it never came. He looked towards the knight's face and the latter was still staring at the package, "Hello?"

"Oh! Umm… Sorry." Magnamon mumbled. "Umm… What were you saying?"

"I said, are you collecting these?"

"Well not exactly. I'd rather explain it inside, if you do not mind." Magnamon walked inside his room, carrying the box of toys towards his bed, with the Tsubasa's obelisk following behind. When the box was settled down, Magnamon helped the digitestined pair out of the box and unto the bed. The two could instantly see that the room was fairly simple: having a desk, a bed, and a book shelf containing books of different topics. The only one that seemed to be out of the ordinary was a cork board with numerous drawings and pictures attached to it. Also, numerous small action figures and other toys were on the shelves and desk.

Tsubasa kept looking around the place. "Wow, you must really love your toys."

"Actually, they are not mine." The gold knight replied. He went over to his desk and took hold of a picture frame. He then brought it back towards his bed to show it to the two. "The toys are theirs."

The two could see a picture of fresh to rookie digimons looking happily into the camera. They were all lined up like that of students in a class picture. Behind and beside them were figures that instantly were familiar with Tsubasa and Fanbeemon. "Hey, aren't these the guys who were running the daycare in Cherrymon's town?" The human asked.

"Have you met them?" Magnamon said.

Fanbeemon nodded. "Yeah, they let us stay the night at their place."

Tsubasa nodded as well. "The kid's were fun to play with. How are you related to them?"

Magnamon sat on the bed and stared at the picture in his hands. "I was actually a caretaker there as well. That was before I was chosen to become a Royal Knight." He then looked towards the box of toys. "These toys were some of the toys of the children who we took care of. They send me pictures, drawings, and toys every once in a while to show that they are doing well. In return, I send money to them for support and occasionally visit them."

Tsubasa climbed up unto Magnamon's lap with Fanbeemon's help. He then looked towards the picture once more. He then noticed a figure in the back that he did not recognize. The digimon was wearing what looked like a white ninja suit with huge leaves on his shoulders to be a make shift cloak. The figure had red hair that was tied and sticking out from behind his head. He also had what seem to be a huge shuriken on his back, hands, and feet. The figure was waving his right hand. "Hey who's that?" Tsubasa pointed at the strange figure. "We didn't meet him when we got to the daycare."

Magnamon looked at the one that the boy pointed. "Oh, really? Then he must have been gone again." Magnamon stated nonchalantly. "That is Shurimon, another of the daycare's caretakers. He helps around every once in awhile but most of the time he goes around the DigiWorld to explore."

"Won't it seem unfair for him to leave while the others are left behind to do their job?" Fanbeemon asked suspiciously.

"The others do not really feel like leaving the area unless they really need to." Magnamon explained. "In Shurimon's case, he felt that he was not fit to be a child's guardian. He is a bit serious and only talks when he needs to."

"If those toys were so important to you, then why were they stored in a closet in the hall ways?" Fanbeemon asked. "Logic dictates that you would have stored it here in your room."

"Err…" Magnamon rubbed his arm embarrassingly. "Yes… Umm… That was a mistake on my part… We had spring cleaning last year and I put the box of toys too close to some of the items we were going to store in the closets. After that, I searched and searched but couldn't find it. Due to my panic state, I must have overlooked it or the closet itself. I apologized to the kids and the other caretakers for losing the toys but now, I can tell them that it is alright." The gold knight stated the last bit with great glee.

"So you're going to write them a letter?" Tsubasa inquired.

Magnamon cocked his head in thought before nodding. "No, I think it would be better to go there myself and tell them in person. It has been a while since I last visited." He then looked at the two on his lap. "Would you like to come with me?"

"We'd love to but I think we should sit this one out." Fanbeemon responded.

The human nodded. "I think I'd like to rest after all that jogging and exploring earlier. Besides, I think this is more of a private thing for you guys."

"Very well. Would you like me to pass a message for you to anyone in particular?"

The digidestined duo looked at each other and then smiled at Magnamon. "If the kids or anyone asks about us, tell them that we're doing fine." Fanbeemon answered.

Tsubasa grinned then continued the message. "And tell them that when we have the time, we'll surely visit again."

Magnamon stared at them for a while before chuckling once more. "Very well. I shall pass on your message to the resident's of the settlement when I visit tomorrow. For now, I believe my patrol shift is about to begin." He then looked around his room to see if everything is in order. "Everything seems to be alright." He then knelt on one knee and held out his hand. "Come. I shall drop you off by the observation deck on top of the World Tree; watching the sunset in the Digimon World could prove quite relaxing."

The two smaller beings, plus their guardian crystal, hopped on to Magnamon's hand and the four exited the gold knight's room. After they reached the top of the tree, Magnamon lowered them unto the observation platform on one of the larger branches of the World Tree before flying off for his patrol. The three remaining beings were then left to stare at the horizon as the sun started to disappear and stars begin to populate the darkening sky.

* * *

Rate and review please.


End file.
